Pokémon Johto Journey VOL 1
by 19jchoi
Summary: After triumphing in the Orange Islands and hearing about the Johto League, Isamu, Ash, and the others soon come to a realization that their journey together isn't over as a new journey awaits them. But will the Ketchum brothers or Luna be able to achieve their dreams in the Johto region? Or will rivals and enemies get in their way, just as they always will?
1. The Johto Region! A Starter Problem?

**Pokémon Johto Journey VOL. 1**

 **(I do not own Pokémon.)**

 **Chapter 1: The Johto Region! A Starter Problem?**

Trudging across the forest, Ash, Isamu, Misty, Brock, and Luna were making their way across the forest in order to head for New Bark Town in the Johto region, where Isamu, Ash, and Luna would be able to register for the Johto League.

After the Ketchum brothers had won in the Orange Islands Championships separately, and with Ash's defeat against Gary, the younger Ketchum brother became determined to surpass his rival by entering the Johto League so that he would be able to do better than he did during the Indigo League.

But while the group was traveling in the forest, they soon realized that the forest was getting much deeper than it was as they continued to make their way. That was, until both Pikachu and Eevee seemed to have noticed something.

"Pika Pi!"

"Eevee! Vee!"

Both Ash and Isamu stopped, causing the others to stop and look up at their starters, with the younger brother was the first to question them.

"What, Pikachu...?" Ash asked as Isamu caught on what the two were seeing before he questioned the others.

"Hold on a second... That branch... Didn't we pass by it before?" Isamu asked, causing Misty to widen her eyes before she crumpled down on the ground, with Togepi remaining in her arms.

"Ash... Isamu... You mean...!? UGH! NO! We've been walking around in circles all day! Ash, you said you knew where you were going and we're totally lost now! Where do we go!?" Misty demanded in frustration.

"Misty, calm down. Just because we're lost again doesn't mean you have to be so short-tempered about it. This isn't the first time we got lost, and we were able to get through those bitter times, remember?" Luna asked.

"Well, you're right, but still...!" Misty protested until the younger brother glared back at her.

"Well, if you're so smart, then why don't you be the one to decide?" Ash asked sharply, causing the Cerulean Trainer to narrow her eyes before she got up from her crumpled state, with Luna helping her up.

"That's a good idea! I'll find a way out of here!" Misty assured as she looked around. The others awaited for her words as the Water Type user continued to look around in the woods to see where they could make an exit out of the forest.

"Well, Misty? You have any ideas on how to get out of here? We can't stand here forever." Isamu asked, as he folded his arms with a frown. Deep down, he knew that even Misty was clueless on which way that they needed to go.

"Don't rush me, Isamu! I just have to think!" Misty explained, much to the younger brother's amusement as he taunted Misty about it.

"Well! This is gonna be a brand new experience for you!" Ash teased, much to the Water Type user's annoyance as she glared at the younger brother at his taunt.

"WE'RE NOT LOST BECAUSE OF ME!" Misty snapped, only to be shoved back by Brock as the Kanto Breeder pried both Ash and Misty apart.

"HEY! Yelling never solves anything! So, just calm down! You two have to be more mature like the rest of us are!" Brock yelled out, causing Isamu to scratch the back of his head in annoyance, with no hint of a smile appearing on the elder brother's face.

"Well then, what do you suggest we should do? So far, we've been walking around in circles, so there's no way for us to know which way could be the right path or not." Isamu asked, causing Brock to think.

But before the Kanto Breeder could think of an option, Togepi blinked several times before she squealed happily as she jumped out of Misty's arms! The group all watched as the newborn Pokémon began to walk off!

Both Pikachu and Eevee quickly went after the newborn Pokémon, as did the others as they watched the little Pokémon trio leave.

"Pikachu!"

"Eevee!"

The Ketchum brothers rushed after their starters to see where they were going. But just as they caught up with the three Pokémon, they both widened their eyes in surprise to see what they were seeing with their eyes.

"Ah..." Ash breathed out, with Isamu widening his eyes in disbelief.

"What is that...?" asked the elder brother as the two laid their eyes on a mysterious Pokémon that seemed to be covered in blue aura. It was standing on a rock that seemed to be in the middle of a lake.

It didn't take notice of the Ketchum brothers and their young Pokémon friends, but it was quite a sight for the boys to see right now...

* * *

 **[Pokémon: OK! Opening (English Subbed)]**

 _ **OK!**_

(The opening title appears)

 _ **OK! Let's move on**_

(Ash and Isamu appear together and run together)

 _ **OK! If we're together, we'll be all right**_

(Pikachu and Eevee joins the two brothers)

 _ **OK! The winds are changing**_

(Misty and Luna appear together and joins)

 _ **OK! But that dream won't!**_

(Brock and Lorcan appear together and joins)

(Ho-Oh and Lugia clash with each other in the sky)

 _ **We'll go through it all for that thrill**_  
 _ **And through we won't notice**_

(The group runs together, passing through many wild Pokémon)

 _ **The key to the door to the new world is**_  
 _ **Getting something unknown**_

(The group jumps over rocks to get past the river, while seeing many Water Types!)

(The group slides down on a grassy hill, with each of them riding on a leaf)

(Gary appears with his Eevee jumping onto his shoulder)

 _ **Golden sun & silver moon**_  
 _ **The lady sun and the lord moon**_

(The group are sitting together, getting ready for lunch together along with their Pokémon)

 _ **Are always changing faces**_  
 _ **And protecting everyone**_

(Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile gets close to Ash as he smiles)

(Delia, Mr. Mime, Prof. Oak, Yellow, Tracey, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny appear altogether)

(Mewtwo floats with Mew floating playfully)

 _ **And, then, so...**_

(A shadow of Suicune stands in a forest near the river)

 _ **OK! Let's swallow our fear!**_

(A red-headed Trainer appears with a Pokéball and a smirk)

 _ **OK! A prideful move, "Bravado"**_

(Eevee, Pikachu, and Togepi all ride on Hoothoot, Heracross, and Ledyba)

 _ **OK! Though I don't know their names or voices**_

(Ash prepares a Pokéball and faces Isamu in battle, who gets ready in return)

 _ **They are waiting for me!**_  
 _ **I want to meet them!**_

(Chikorita, Totodile, and Cyndaquil all launch their attacks separately)

(Ash and Isamu command Pikachu and Eevee to use Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball)

 _ **OK!**_

(The group runs and stops at a cliff together with many Kanto and Johto Pokémon)

 **[Opening Ends]**

* * *

The Ketchum brothers still had their eyes on the Pokémon that was standing on the rock that was in the middle of a lake. While they were gazing at it, Misty, Brock, and Luna had arrived to see what the boys were seeing.

"A Pokémon?" Brock questioned, with Misty noticing its beauty of the blue aura.

"It's beautiful..." Misty commented as Luna just watched with a smile of agreement.

Just as the two former Gym Leaders spoke their words, the mysterious Pokémon turned to where the group was, causing both Ash and Isamu to tense at the eyes staring at them and their friends.

"It is..." Ash breathed out while Isamu remained silent. But just as the younger brother spoke a word, the mysterious Pokémon narrowed its eyes before it jumped out of the lake and disappeared out of sight!

Ash gasped at this while Luna sighed in disappointment to see it gone so soon.

"It's gone... And it was so beautiful, too..." Luna added with a sigh before Ash tried to chase after the disappeared Pokémon.

"Ah! Wait! Come back- AH!" Ash started to yell until he slipped on the hill!

"Ash, no!" Isamu yelled as he tried to go after him, only for him to slip as well! Eevee, Pikachu, and Togepi fell along as Luna was the next one to fall, which caused her to shriek in surprise.

Misty and Brock ran after their three friends before they slipped on the hill too, causing the five Trainers and the three young Pokémon to crash all the way down at the bottom of the hill!

No one noticed that a familiar Jigglypuff had somehow followed them, before the Normal Type cheered happily as it jumped down to slide down the hill, heading to where the group had fallen to.

 **Later...**

After recovering from the fall the group had to take, the five Trainers were trudging once again to get out of the forest, with all of them feeling weary from all the walking they had to, especially Ash, who had to use his knees to walk all the way out.

"I don't think I can go much further..." Misty panted in exhaustion.

"Me neither..." Brock groaned, with Isamu feeling a bit annoyed about it.

"Nothing much we can do though, until... Huh? A sign?" Isamu started to say before he stopped at a sign, which the others noticed before they looked to see a large town up ahead.

"Look! That must be New Bark Town up ahead! We're finally here!" Luna exclaimed, causing the group to feel in ease as they had finally reached the destination that they all wanted to get to while arriving at the Johto region.

"ALRIGHT!" Ash exclaimed before Isamu reminded his brother of the Pokémon they could see at Johto.

"Hey, Ash... You think we might be able to see more Pokémon like the one we saw back at the lake? The one that disappeared, I mean..." Isamu asked, causing the younger brother to blink before he understood what his brother meant.

"Yeah..." Ash breathed out as he recalled the mysterious Pokémon that ran off when it took a good look at the five Trainers.

"But who was that Pokémon? Is it a Pokémon that lives in the Johto region? Because I don't ever recall seeing or hearing about a Pokémon like that back at the Kanto region..." Luna asked, causing Isamu to shrug in response.

"Could be... Who knows. But still... The important thing right now, is that we're finally here at New Bark Town that's just up ahead!" Isamu reminded before he pointed at the town up ahead.

Ash smiled before he noticed to see the Kanto Breeder reading the words from the sign that they just arrived to.

"'New Bark Town... This way to the town where new beginnings blow.'" Brock read before he smirked at the realization.

"YES! Our new adventure starts right here!" Brock exclaimed, causing the group to watch the town that was ahead of them, which would be the town where they start their journey at the Johto region.

 _"Where winds of new beginnings blow... I can almost hear the crowd of my first Johto League match..."_ Ash thought with a smile before Isamu stepped up besides him, having the same smile that Ash had on his face.

"I can feel the wind now... It looks like this is where it really starts, huh?" Isamu asked, causing Ash to nod at his brother, before he realized the new tone that his brother was speaking in.

"Right... And big bro? About your voice, I..." Ash started to say, only to get a small glare from the elder brother.

"Don't say it, Ash. I know that you're sorry... I understand that. It was to save our Pokémon, right? That matters the most than what happened to me." Isamu reassured his younger brother, despite of Ash's look of protest.

"But I..." Ash started to say before he bit his lips. Despite of Isamu's continuous reassurance that he was fine, the younger brother couldn't help but feel that Isamu's new voice because of his throat being damaged from one of their battles against Team Rocket.

The younger brother felt responsible, as his reckless action ended up making Isamu talk more differently. To that point, Ash had began to believe that he might hurt Isamu more because of his possible actions later in the future, but he didn't remain distant of his elder brother.

Thanks to Luna and Isamu both reassuring him, the younger brother remained close to his brother.

"Yeah... Thanks, big bro." Ash spoke back, earning a nod and smile from his elder brother.

"Hah... YAH! I'm ready!" Ash exclaimed, surprising both Misty and Luna a little, as the Water Type user was the one to ask.

"What do you think he's ready for, Brock?" Misty asked, allowing the Kanto Breeder to explain.

"He's ready to overcome every obstacle to achieve his ultimate destiny." Brock explained calmly, causing Luna to make a sheepish smile while Misty sweat dropped at the blunt response.

"Oh... that." Misty spoke in disbelief as both Eevee and Pikachu jumped onto their Trainers' shoulders to side with them all the way.

"Pika Pi!"

"Eevee!" The two cried out with Ash getting ready to prepare for the Johto challenge.

"The journey starts right now, Pikachu! Look out, Johto League! We're on our way!" Ash exclaimed, with Pikachu crying out his agreement. But before the younger brother could make a dash to where the place would be, Isamu was the one to stop him on his tracks.

"Not so fast there, little bro. Did you forget? We came to New Bark Town to get yourself, Luna, and me registered for the upcoming Johto League." Isamu reminded, causing Ash to stop before he blinked.

"Oh yeah... That's right. Well then... Look out, Johto League! We're gonna register!" Ash exclaimed by pumping his fist in the air.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed before Ash asked for some change for the registration.

"Do you guys have any cash in case they charge a fee?" Ash asked, causing the others to fall over, with Isamu and Luna both sweat dropping at the younger brother's stupidity for how the registration is done.

"There's no fee! You just sign up at the Pokémon Center! Come on!" Brock snapped before he began to lead the way, allowing the others to follow after him.

"I bet there's a Nurse Joy in charge of this Pokémon Center, too..." Misty spoke, causing Luna to sigh before she elbowed Misty a little, causing the Water Type user to wince before Luna spoke in reminder.

"You just had to remind Brock of that, did you...?" Luna asked, causing Misty to blink before she realized what she had just said as she noticed the Kanto breeder looking all flushed while having a silly grin on his face.

 **Later...**

Brock was the one to rush into the Pokémon Center to greet the nurse as he called out to her in the front desk.

"Ah! Nurse Joy..." Brock started to say before Chansey rose from the counter to greet the newcomers! The Kanto Breeder frowned at seeing the nurse's assistant, before informing her of who they were looking for.

"Chansey, you're not Nurse Joy..." Brock pointed out, only to get a kick on the leg from Luna, who glared at him for his harsh words.

"Don't be so harsh, Brock. Chansey does the hard work of looking after the Center when Nurse Joy isn't around. Speaking of, where is Nurse Joy, Chansey?" Luna asked, only for Chansey to press on the button on the front desk!

A screen lowered down for the group to see as Nurse Joy's face popped up on the screen!

 _"Welcome, all Trainers! I'm Nurse Joy!"_ Nurse Joy spoke out in the screen, much to Brock's ecstasy as he grinned at the sight of her.

"Ah... There she is." Brock sighed before the others questioned of why a message was done.

"That's funny..." Misty commented, with Ash asking the obvious question.

"Why is she on TV?" Ash asked, before the group listened to what the nurse needed to say.

 _"I'm over at the Elm Laboratory right now, and I'm sorry I'm not here to help you! But I'll be back at the Pokémon Center no later than 2'o clock this afternoon!"_ Nurse Joy assured, causing the group to now understand of her current absence.

"Guess we've got to wait..." Ash suggested before the group turned to the clock.

"Didn't she say at 2?" Misty asked before Isamu noticed something wrong as he frowned.

"It's already 3:30... She's awfully late." Isamu commented before Luna tilted her head in both confusion and worry.

"Do you think something happened over at the Elm Laboratory?" Luna asked, before Brock ran over to snap at his young companions for their aloofness.

"WE CAN'T JUST SIT OR STAND HERE AND THINK EVERYTHING'S OKAY! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT NURSE JOY MIGHT BE IN SOME KIND OF TERRIBLE DANGER!? LET'S GO FIND HER!" Brock yelled out loud.

WHACK!

Brock found himself twitching on the ground with Luna's face being darkened as she sighed in annoyance.

"First, you need to cool down. Otherwise, you might overheat when we come to face Nurse Joy." Luna reminded, causing Ash and Misty to pale while Isamu gave a sheepish smile for the rough action Luna had done just now.

 _"If Arcanine was seeing this instead of being inside of his Pokéball, then he would be smirking proudly for her..."_ Isamu thought before the group began to take their leave to where the Elm Laboratory could be.

It wasn't much later when the group arrived at a building where it seemed to be surrounded by the police force.

"Wonder what's going on here...?" Misty asked, with Isamu folding his arms.

"Not good, obviously. Why else would the police and Officer Jenny be here? Look. She's over there." Isamu pointed out, causing the Kanto Breeder to immediately dash for the officer with a bouquet behind his back.

"I can't believe it's her!" Brock exclaimed, causing the others to watch in bewilderment as he greeted Officer Jenny formally.

"Hello, Officer Jenny! I'm Brock! And I'd like to present you with a small token of my admiration!" Brock explained, catching the officer by surprise as both she and Growlithe turned to see the Kanto Breeder offering a bouquet.

"Perhaps you'd like to get together this evening for a nice, quiet... AUGH!" Brock started to say before he was dragged away forcefully by Misty, who held him on the back of his vest. She grumbled at another embarrassing moment Brock had got himself into.

"I better haul you off before she does! And just when Luna told you to cool down!" Misty grunted angrily as the others approached the officer to know where they were right now.

"Excuse me, Officer Jenny. Could you please tell me where we could find the lab of Prof. Elm?" Ash asked, only to get a smile from the officer as she turned to the building that was behind her.

"We happen to be standing right in front of it!" Officer Jenny responded, much to the younger brother's surprise as Isamu took a better look at the lab. There seemed to be some sort of stage up ahead where an event could be held.

"It looks a bit similar to Prof. Oak's laboratory, huh..." Isamu commented, with Eevee giving a silent nod of agreement.

"Looks like trouble! Don't worry, Officer Jenny! Just leave this one to me!" Brock exclaimed as he dashed ahead to where the lab entrance was! The others watched in surprise as Luna glared at the Kanto Breeder for his rush.

"Ugh! Brock, you get back here! Nothing good is going to happen if you just rush in! Hey!" Luna exclaimed as she made chase after him.

"Geez..." was all Isamu grumbled out before he ran after his two companions, causing Ash and Misty to run in after them.

"Guys! Wait a second!"

"Hey!" The two called out as they all ran inside the laboratory, much to the officer's surprise as she called after them.

"You can't go in there!" Officer Jenny exclaimed as she ran after the five Trainers.

 **Meanwhile...**

Nurse Joy was glaring at the man with a lab coat. The man held his head, seemingly with shame as he began to blame himself for what happened to his lab just now.

"It's all my fault... I should've been paying attention." The man groaned, only to get a lecture from the nurse.

"Well, maybe if you got out of this lab once in a while, you'd start to notice what's going on around you! Now what are you gonna tell that new Trainer when she comes here to pick up her Totodile!?" Nurse Joy snapped.

The man scratched the back of his head apologetically before he tried to explain of why he wasn't able to know what was going on earlier.

"I'm so sorry... But I was observing a very unusual cell division..." The man tried to explain, only to be snapped at by the nurse once again.

"Stop making excuses for yourself, Professor!" Nurse Joy snapped before Brock rushed over to greet the nurse.

"Have no fear! Brock is here!" Brock exclaimed, catching both the nurse and the professor by surprise before the Kanto Breeder grinned sheepishly at catching the nurse's attention.

"And may I say you're looking lovely...?" Brock started to ask, before he was knocked down onto the ground by Luna!

"Stop it, Brock! We don't have time for you to be making lovely advances towards both Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy when they have their own jobs to do!" Luna snapped, catching both the nurse and professor by surprise.

"Could someone tell me what's going on here?" Nurse Joy asked, as Isamu, Ash, and Misty soon arrived with the elder brother trying to explain.

"Well, you see..." Isamu started to say before Officer Jenny interrupted with a stern tone and expression.

"You kids can't come barging in here in the middle of a police investigation!" Officer Jenny snapped, much to Ash's confusion as he tried to ask.

"Investigation?" Ash repeated in confusion, before Nurse Joy explained with a sad expression.

"I'm afraid someone has stolen a Pokémon!" Nurse Joy explained, much to the group's surprise.

"Stolen a Pokémon!?" The five Trainers all exclaimed in unison.

 **Later...**

Officer Jenny led everyone outside to where the stage was set up for some sort of event as the officer explained as to what the case was.

"A new Trainer's very first Pokémon is gone! That poor girl... That poor Totodile..." Officer Jenny explained, causing the group to question as to what Pokémon the officer was referring to.

"Totodile?" The group all asked in unison before the Professor, now known as Prof. Elm explained with another Pokémon in his hands.

"You see, I was supposed to give this Totodile and this Cyndaquil to two new Pokémon Trainers tomorrow!" Prof. Elm explained, allowing the group to take notice of one of the Johto starter Pokémon.

"Hey, look at that!" Ash exclaimed, with Brock recognizing the Pokémon immediately.

"It's a Cyndaquil!" Brock stated as the Pokémon, now known as Cyndaquil gave a soft cry at seeing the new humans and Pokémon before it.

"It's so cute!" Misty commented before the Cyndaquil sneezed! Flames erupted on its back, causing everyone to yelp in surprise until the Professor explained as to why this happened.

"Don't be alarmed! This is normal behavior!" Prof. Elm assured, with Pikachu, Eevee, and Togepi greeting the young Fire Type.

"Pika Pika!"

"Eevee Vee!"

"Togepi!" The three cried out, causing the Fire Type to squirm a little, as if it was feeling a little timid of meeting the new Pokémon it hasn't seen before.

"Maybe I should explain things more fully... New Bark Trainers get to choose one of three! A Chikorita! A new Trainer just picked this one up just the other day! It's a Grass Type!" Prof. Elm explained as he revealed the Johto Grass Type starter with a photo.

"Or, they could pick Cyndaquil, which is a Fire Type!" Prof. Elm continued, with the Cyndaquil giving a happy cry in response at hearing its name.

"Or... they could pick a Totodile, which is a Water Type!" Prof. Elm concluded, before he showed another photo with a Water Type in the picture this time.

"A Water Type! I'd pick that one!" Misty giggled, with her favoritism towards Water Type being more active than ever.

"So those are the three starters here for the Trainers that begin their journey in the Johto region, huh..." Isamu commented, with Eevee in awe at seeing the new Pokémon for the first time.

"It would be a difficult choice to make, huh..." Luna added, as she too, was awed by the choices allowed.

"Yeah... New Pokémon Trainers back home get to pick a Charmander! Or a Squirtle! Or a Bulbasaur! But I got Pikachu!" Ash stated, as he remembered the time when he got to pick his Electric Type partner from Prof. Oak's laboratory.

At hearing the starters' names from the younger brother, the Johto Professor widened his eyes in surprise.

"Well, if those are the ones you had to choose from, I'd say you must come from Pallet Town!" Prof. Elm guessed, with the Ketchum brothers confirming of where they came from.

"Yeah! That's right! And big bro and I are here to register for the Johto League! The same goes for Luna, too!" Ash explained, earning affirmative nods from both the elder brother and Luna before the Johto Professor questioned the group about the Kanto Professor.

"So I suppose you all know Professor Samuel Oak?" Prof. Elm asked, with the elder brother explaining this time.

"Yes, that's right. Ash and I started our journey together back at Pallet Town, where Prof. Oak was able to help us begin our first journey together. He's a nice and intelligent man to have around when it comes to Pokémon." Isamu explained.

"If you're asking this, Professor Elm... Does this mean you know Prof. Oak more than we do?" Luna asked, only to get a determined glare from the Johto Professor as he explained loudly on how well he knew the Kanto Professor.

"Of course I know Professor Oak! I was his top student! I remember the first paper I submitted to him at the university! A brilliant analysis of the hybridized communicative faculties of Pokémon! A truly groundbreaking work!" Prof. Elm explained, with Brock nodding in understanding.

As the Johto Professor went on with his rambling, Nurse Joy had already taken Cyndaquil from his arms as Misty and Luna cooed at the cuteness the little Fire Type had as the Water Type user tickled the Fire Type's tummy.

"Coochi-coochi coo! Coochi-coochi coo!" Misty cooed happily before she giggled at seeing how cute the Fire Mouse Pokémon was reacting to her tickling.

"That tickles, huh?" Misty giggled as Isamu folded his arms with a sheepish smile. Luna just giggled along, understanding what the Water Type user meant as the nurse kept the Fire Type cradled in her arms.

"I know that sometimes Prof. Elm may sound like a hothead, but he's really very sweet... and he raises wonderful Pokémon!" Nurse Joy explained, with Ash understanding as he gave a nod to the nurse.

"And what about his ego, Nurse Joy?" Isamu asked, as he pointed to where the Johto Professor was still going on about how he believed to be much better than the Kanto Professor, with Brock having to listen all the way.

"...And ALTHOUGH I respect and admire Professor Oak's scientific achievements, I am forced to consider him my personal enemy!" Prof. Elm declared loudly, keeping the determined expression on his face.

"Wow, Professor Elm sure can talk." Misty observed.

"You got that right... Don't know if whether that is because he acknowledges the Professor as his actual enemy or a true rival..." Isamu agreed, before he and the others turned to hear the Professor continuing his rambling.

"As you can see from my published work, I focus my studies on unusual Pokémon abilities... which I find infinitely more interesting than Professor Oak's research, which concentrates on Pokémon and their human relationships, because I see…" Prof. Elm went on, causing Nurse Joy to make a sheepish smile.

"Sometimes I wish Professor Elm would be a little MORE like Professor Oak and do some research on the area of HUMAN relationships too." Nurse Joy said.

Ash turned around to face the nurse, reminded of why they came to the lab in the first place.

"Nurse Joy, the reason we came looking for you was because big bro, Luna, and I all wanted to sign up for the Johto League." Ash explained, causing the nurse to blink in realization before she apologized to the three Trainers.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was supposed to be back at the Pokémon Center by two, but when I got to the lab I lost track of time." Nurse Joy apologized, feeling a bit sheepish for her tardiness of her promised time to return.

Misty looked down in worry, feeling worried for the girl that would lose her chance of getting a Totodile for her starter Pokémon, especially since the Water Type was taken away by the thief or thieves that snuck into the research lab.

"We just feel bad for the new trainer who's supposed to get that Totodile tomorrow." Misty said with her head low.

"Yeah, when I was a new Trainer, I got so excited about getting my first Pokemon, I couldn't even SLEEP the night before!" Ash said, having been brought to memory lane.

The elder brother raised an eyebrow at remembering how late Ash got up when the alarm clock broke during the younger brother's sleep. Misty on the other hand, grinned coyly at Ash, seeing the perfect time for some teasing.

"So you slept til four the next day while Isamu was all ready to leave..." Misty stated with a smirk, causing Ash to flinch, having been reminded of how he seriously overslept that day. Even Pikachu looked astonished by how Misty brought that up.

But despite the bitter memory the younger brother had to take on his first day, Ash quickly shook that off before he turned to the two adults.

"Anyway, I'm just saying that I know what it's like to look forward to the day when you finally get your first Pokémon." Ash explained, with the Electric Type crying out in agreement.

"Same here... That's why we want to do everything that we can in order to help track down the thieves that stole Totodile from Prof. Elm so that we can get it back." Isamu explained, with Eevee giving a growl of agreement, before she showed her determined expression.

"Vee!" Eevee cried out, with Luna speaking her decision as well.

"Me, too! I want to help in any way that I can!" Luna declared, with Misty joining in.

The two women closed their eyes and nodded with smiles on their faces. But just as they did, another officer rushed over to them, getting a clue of who and where the thieves might be heading to.

"Officer Jenny! We didn't find any fingerprints, but we made a plaster casing of some suspicious footprints we found behind the lab." The officer reported, before he revealed the footprints that seemed to be all different.

As the officer looked, the group took a close look as well, before Luna frowned.

"Hey... Now that I look at those prints, I think I know who the thieves might be..." Luna replied, causing the officer to turn to her.

"You do?" Officer Jenny asked, earning a nod from Luna.

 **Later...**

Soon, Growlithe, Eevee, and Pikachu were now running side by side with everyone else trailing close behind.

"Where's Growlithe taking us?" Ash asked.

"To the Pokémon thieves, I hope. Growlithe's following the scent it picked up from those footprints to find that stolen Totodile." Officer Jenny explained as the search and chase went on.

"Growlithe! Growlithe!" Growlithe barked, causing Isamu to realize what the Fire Type must've found.

"Looks like he found something up ahead!" Isamu grunted as everyone picked up the pace.

But just as they were making their way to where the thieves might be...

BOOM!

Everyone stopped in their tracks to see a small explosion coming from not too far up ahead! There were familiar shrieks and a familiar trio flying up high into the air!

"Wait, isn't that...!?" Luna started to ask, with Ash recognizing the trio.

"It's Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed as they all watched the evil trio disappearing into the blue sky.

"TEAM ROCKET'S MESSED UP AGAIN!" The evil trio screamed as they disappeared out of sight.

"What just... happened?" Luna asked, causing Isamu to give a guess on what might've happened.

"Looks like someone beat us to the punch and sent them flying before we could... That could only mean..." Isamu started to say, with Ash realizing what this could mean for the stolen Pokémon.

"Someone must've saved Totodile from those creeps!" Ash exclaimed as he dashed ahead, with the others following not too far behind. But as they all arrived at the scene, there was the Totodile that was stolen from Team Rocket.

But right next to the Totodile, was a red-haired boy! At first look, he didn't look nice or pleasant at all. In truth, he looked more dark and _unpleasant_ , even more than the Team Rocket trio that was sent flying just now.

He had a high-collared navy coat with red trim, dark violet pants, a black belt around his waist, and navy shoes with red trim that match the colors of his coat. Cautious at first, the younger brother approached the boy with a few steps before he questioned him.

"Hey, uh... Are you the one, that sent Team Rocket flying?" Ash asked, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow at him before he scoffed.

"So what if I did? Those idiots from Team Rocket seriously need to learn that being in a group is what's making them weak as they are right now." The boy scoffed, causing the group to widen their eyes at the harsh tone the boy was giving off.

"If you did, then we appreciate your cooperation for defeating the thieves. Now, if you'll let us take back the Totodile that was stolen from Prof. Elm's lab..." Officer Jenny started to say before the boy glared at her.

"No chance, Officer... This Pokémon is staying with me, since I've taken it into my 'custody'." The boy declared, much to the group and the officer's surprise. Totodile didn't seem too bothered by it, despite of the wary glance it gave to the boy...

"Hold on, what are you talking about? That Totodile is supposed to go with the girl that's starting her Pokémon journey tomorrow! You can't just say that it's yours when it actually belongs to her!" Misty protested.

"Then that girl will just have to wait for another one, because a good Pokémon going to a new Trainer like her... would be a complete waste." The boy retorted, causing the surprised looks to turn into glares as Luna stepped up.

"You can't be serious! A complete waste!? What do you mean by that!?" Luna snapped, as the boy narrowed his eyes.

"So you all don't get what I'm saying? In that case, I'll show you what I mean! Totodile, prepare for battle." The boy ordered, causing the Johto Water Type starter to give an affirmative nod before he got in front of the boy!

"That Totodile is understanding his order..." Brock pointed out as Isamu clenched his fists.

But before he could respond, a small fireball was shot towards Totodile! The Water Type jumped back, surprising everyone except the boy as they all turned to see who had shot the Fire Type attack.

And to their surprise, it was a Cyndaquil!

"It's Cyndaquil!" Ash exclaimed, with Officer Jenny questioning its sudden appearance.

"But wait, is it the same one from Prof. Elm's lab? What is it doing here...?" Officer Jenny asked as they watched Cyndaquil call out to Totodile, who smirked back in amusement as the boy raised an eyebrow before he chuckled in amusement.

"So... another good Pokémon wants to fight my new one, eh? Fine... This should be interesting, and short if it's weak." The boy smirked before he turned his eyes on the five Trainers and the officer before the boy took notice of the elder brother.

"You're..." The boy started to say, catching Isamu's attention before the boy's stare turned into a glare.

"I know you... You. You'll be fighting me and Totodile here. Right here and right now." The boy demanded as Isamu blinked in surprise. Eevee growled at the demand that Isamu was being given while Ash snapped at hm.

"What!? Why can't I battle with you!? Why are you dragging big bro to fight?" Ash demanded, only to be ignored as he kept his glare on the elder Ketchum brother. But before he could respond, the Fire Type squeaked at him.

"Quil! Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil cried out, catching Isamu's attention.

The Fire Mouse Pokémon made a determined expression, with its back erupting with flames as the elder brother blinked before he closed his eyes. Sighing, he came to an understanding of what the Johto Fire Type starter wanted to do.

"Alright then... It's a deal. I'll be battling with Cyndaquil here! How does that sound to you?" Isamu asked, surprising the others and the officer while the boy just smirked in amusement, before he accepted the challenge.

"That's fine. Let's begin, shall we?" The boy asked as Luna tried to question the elder brother's motives.

"Isamu, what are you doing?! This boy is currently the new thief that has taken Totodile! If we don't get it back now, then-" Luna started to protest until Isamu narrowed his eyes, before knowing what the consequences would be.

"You think I don't know? I know what will happen if he gets away with that Totodile. Just watch... I know what I'm doing." Isamu assured, silencing Luna from making any more complaints before she slowly nodded in reluctance.

Ash seemed to have gotten the message as he took a step back, as did Misty and Brock. Officer Jenny was more hesitant, but stepped back as well, as she knew that there was a chance that they could retrieve Totodile should Isamu be the victor of this battle.

 **Isamu: Cyndaquil VS Boy: Totodile**

"Let's go... The first strike will lead to victory! Totodile, start things off with Water Gun!" The boy shouted out, causing the Water Type to shoot the super effective attack at Cyndaquil, as Isamu commanded for an evasive maneuver.

"Dodge it, Cyndaquil!" Isamu exclaimed, causing the Fire Mouse Pokémon to evade the super effective attack! But the boy wasn't done as he continued with more attacks, aimed straight at the Fire Mouse Pokémon.

"Lucky dodge... Now, use Scratch! Back to back!" The boy exclaimed, causing Totodile to charge and lash at Cyndaquil, only for the elder brother to call for another dodge to prevent any damage from being done.

"Dodge those attacks, Cyndaquil!" Isamu called out, causing the Fire Mouse Pokémon to dodge up and down, left and right from the attacks that were coming to its way! Annoyed, the boy called out more attacks.

"If you think you can win by just dodging like a coward, then you're dead wrong! Hit it this time with Water Gun! And make sure it hits this time!" The boy exclaimed, allowing the Big Jaw Pokémon to shoot another Water Type attack!

This time however, the elder brother countered the incoming attack with a defensive attack!

"Dodge with Quick Attack and strike!" Isamu exclaimed, causing Cyndaquil to get out of the way before it slammed into Totodile! The Big Jaw Pokémon yelped as it tumbled back, much to the boy's annoyance.

"Tch! You little... Get up! And then use Bite!" The boy snapped, causing Totodile to lung at Cyndaquil after it recovered from the small blow it had taken from the Fire Mouse Pokémon's Quick Attack.

"This guy sure seems to know about all of Totodile's attacks and on how to battle okay..." Misty pointed out, with Brock folding his arms.

"You're right, but it sure doesn't seem like he's patient for his Pokémon to recover or of letting his opponents try to get the better of him. Just look how he's battling! It's like he's battling against a tough opponent, which is why he seems to be in a rush to win..." Brock explained.

"Well, he is battling against a tough opponent! Big bro will win this one... I'm sure of it! That guy obviously doesn't care about Totodile while Isamu cares about Cyndaquil!" Ash assured confidently, with Pikachu crying out his agreement. Luna could only watch, feeling hopeful for Isamu's success.

For the elder brother, he remained calm as Cyndaquil managed to dodge the multiple Water Gun attacks thrown at it! At the moment when Totodile finished shooting its next Water Gun, the elder Ketchum brother took his chance to strike back.

"Now's the time! Use Smokescreen, Cyndaquil!" Isamu cried out. Shooting smoke in the area, the boy and Totodile were both blinded by the surprise attack as the boy whipped his head around to see where his opponent could be.

"Tch... Cheap tricks... Totodile, get out there and use Rage!" The boy exclaimed, causing the Big Jaw Pokémon to stomp around and yell out loud, shouting its battle cry as the elder brother continued his assault.

"Rage is going to make Totodile's attacks even more brutal... In that case, Cyndaquil! Fire Ember!" Isamu called out. Leaping in the air, the Fire Mouse Pokémon shot fireballs at the Smokescreen!

Before the boy could react, the flames knocked Totodile away, despite of Rage in effect!

"No! Get back up, Totodile! Or else you'll face harsh consequences!" The boy threatened angrily, much to both Isamu and Luna's disgust, as they knew that by doing that, the boy wasn't supporting his Pokémon to push his limits...

"One more Ember attack, Cyndaquil!" Isamu shouted out, allowing more fireballs to be blasted at Totodile! Once again, the Big Jaw Pokémon was knocked away, before it struggled to get up and face its Fire Type opponent!

"Now you're really gonna get it, weakling! Use Water Gun!" The boy exclaimed, causing Totodile to blast water at Cyndaquil, only for Isamu to make one more attempt at wrapping the battle up.

"Don't count on it! Dodge, Cyndaquil! Then, use Tackle!" Isamu yelled, causing the Fire Mouse Pokémon to evade the water once more, before it tackled onto the Johto Water Type starter!

Totodile yelled in pain before it tumbled back, becoming unconscious from the hard blow it had taken just now.

"What!?" The boy exclaimed as he clenched his fists to see Totodile get defeated by a Pokémon that it was strong against!

"He did it! Big bro won!" Ash exclaimed in joy, with both Pikachu and Eevee crying out happily for the elder Ketchum brother's victory.

 **Winner: Isamu**

Cyndaquil let out a cry of triumph, while Isamu gave a sigh before he watched to see the boy scoffing angrily before he recalled Totodile back to its Pokéball, as he glared to where the elder Ketchum brother stood.

"So... this is what it's like to face someone who defeated my father in battle..." The boy growled inaudibly, before he snapped at the elder brother, making a promise that he would try to accomplish with everything that he had in him.

"Hear me now, Isamu Ketchum! You may have won this pointless battle, but I will triumph against you the next time we meet! My name is Silver, and I'm going to become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer." Silver declared.

At those words, the boy now known as Silver took out another Pokéball, possibly to make a quick escape, despite of Officer Jenny's warnings for him to stop.

"Hold it! Don't move!" Officer Jenny cried out sternly, only for her words to be ignored as Silver sent out another Pokémon to make his escape!

"Sneasal, let's create our escape with Icy Wind!" Silver called out, causing the new Johto Pokémon to appear and create a cold breeze! Everyone yelled in surprise as they were blinded a little from the harsh wind blowing at their faces!

But by the time they all managed to open their eyes again, Silver was already gone out of their sight, along with the stolen Totodile.

"Damn it... He got away!" Isamu grunted angrily with gritted teeth as the others stared at the spot the boy was in before he disappeared.

While the real thieves were dealt with, everyone knew that with Silver already gone, they had already failed in retrieving the Totodile that Team Rocket had apparently stole from Prof. Elm's lab.

 **Later...**

With Silver's escape, there was no way of knowing where the boy was going to go as he didn't leave any prints of him escaping from the scene. With that in mind, the officer contacted every other officers in town to let her know if they have clues about where the boy could be going.

For all she knew, the boy was trouble to the Totodile if he were to use it in battle, especially since the Water Type was supposed to belong to the girl starting her journey tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the group was back at the Pokémon Center, with Isamu still annoyed at the fact that he had let a thief like Silver get away with one of the Johto Starter Pokémon when it never meant to be his.

"Out of all the things that could've happened today, that guy had to be one that gets on my nerves with his way of battling and the way when he believed everyone else were just weaklings to him..." Isamu scoffed while folding his arms.

"Come on, Isamu... Stop. None of us knew that Silver was going to get away with an underhanded trick like that way. He must've done things like that more times than you think, so it would make sense for him to escape us now." Luna reminded in comfort.

"I guess so, but still... That girl won't be getting her Totodile tomorrow thanks to that guy and my carelessness." Isamu reminded, only to be comforted by Eevee, who nuzzled her Trainer's cheek, enough to make him soften up a little.

While Luna and Eevee comforted the elder Ketchum brother, Ash, Misty, and Brock contacted Professor Oak to let them know that they were at New Bark Town in the Johto region. It took a few seconds of waiting before the Professor's face on the screen popped up.

"Hello, Professor Oak! How are you doing?" Ash asked, causing the Kanto Professor to smile at recognizing the familiar faces.

"I'm doing just fine!" Prof. Oak stated, with the younger brother giving more news.

"We finally made it to New Bark Town!" Ash reported.

"That's excellent news! Are you registered yet along with your brother and Luna, Ash?" Prof. Oak asked.

"Not yet, but I ran into an old student of yours." Ash said as he gestured to someone else that came with them to the Pokémon Center after the incident with Silver.

That's when Professor Elm appeared on the screen. He had a big grin as he held the Cyndaquil that battled with Isamu in his arms.

"Remember me, Professor?" asked Prof. Elm, allowing the Kanto Professor to recognize his student.

"Yes, Professor Elm!" Prof. Oak replied.

"I just want you to know that Isamu and Ash were a tremendous help to me and everyone at my lab today. They've certainly done an outstanding job of training his Pokemon. Of course, I'd expect great things from someone trained by a superb teacher like yourself." Prof. Elm explained.

Ash and Misty looked at each other and merely shrugged. Isamu and Luna had came over by the time at hearing the Johto Professor begin his determination to surpass the Kanto Professor before they sighed.

"Both Isamu and Ash certainly deserves your praise, but I'm afraid you flatter me." Prof. Oak spoke with a small smile.

"Now that I'm responsible for sending new trainers out just like you are, Professor, I'm going to make it my goal to do a better job than you do! I-I mean, just as good a job as you do." Prof. Elm assured as he quickly corrected himself of his mistaken words.

The five Trainers all walked away to let the two professors catch up. After all, old friends tend to ramble when catching up with each other, which could definitely take more than a while to get it done.

"They could be on for hours!" sighed Misty, with Ash giving a small nod of agreement.

"Next time, I'll remember to reverse the charges." Ash said to himself.

While Prof. Elm was talking with Prof. Oak, he failed to notice Cyndaquil walking away from him and towards to where Nurse Joy was! But the group noticed as they watched the Fire Type walk up to the nurse as she picked the young Fire Type up.

"Hey, Nurse Joy." greeted Brock.

"Where did Professor Elm go?" The nurse asked in confusion before Luna responded to the question.

"I think he got a little distracted again, this time while speaking to Prof. Oak himself..." Luna replied, gesturing to where the Johto Professor was now.

Seeing Prof. Elm rambling away on the phone wasn't a new sight for the nurse. She's used to how he is by now before she giggled and smiled in understanding.

"He'll be a while. In the meantime, let's do what you three came here to do and get you all registered and approved for the Johto League!" Nurse Joy suggested, earning nods from the three Trainers.

"Right!" They all spoke in unison. The nurse had their three Johto Pokédex inserted into the computer before she typed on the keyboard to get the computer to recognize the three Trainers and approve of their entry.

 **"Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town... Isamu Ketchum of Pallet Town... Luna Wright from Pewter City... Welcome to the Johto League!"** The computer buzzed in a computerized tone, showing that the three Trainers were accepted into the region's upcoming competition.

With the three Pokédex sent out, the nurse handed back the Trainers their devices before congratulating them for their entry into the League.

"Congratulations, you three! You all are now fully qualified and approved to become official participants in the Johto League!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, allowing the three to thank the nurse for her assistance.

"Great! Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Luna said gratefully, with the brothers nodding in agreement, before the nurse took out a guidebook for the three to use in their travels around the Johto region.

"You kids will also need a copy of the Johto League guide book, so make sure you don't lose it!" Nurse Joy said, allowing Isamu to nod before he was about to take it, only for Brock to take it to his hands!

"I'll hold it close to my heart just as where I hold you!" Brock assured in a goofy tone, only for Luna to glare at him for his tone and expression before she face palmed at the Kanto Breeder's behavior.

Misty walked over, questioning on how many Gym Badges the three might need in order to participate in the Johto League competition.

"How many Badges do they have to win in this League?" Misty asked, with the nurse making an answer.

"Once they earn eight badges, they'll be able to enter and participate in the Johto Championship. I'd say the best place to start is the Violet Gym in Violet City." Nurse Joy replied, allowing the group to understand on where they need to go first for the first Johto Gym Badge.

"Then that's the first place we'll head to." Isamu declared, with Misty commentating on the name.

"It sounds like a real colorful place!" Misty commented, with Brock snapping out of his loving expression, as he reminded the three of what they could do to catch up to Gary, who had already went ahead.

"Yeah... You three can battle for your next Badge there and start to catch up with Gary Oak! But... I'm betting that kid, Silver will be there too, since he said he wanted to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world." Brock stated.

"Silver... Yeah." Isamu stated simply, before he narrowed his eyes at the name of his new rival who had gotten away with Totodile. But before he could speak or think any more, he felt something nudging onto his leg!

"Cyndaquil!" The Fire Mouse Pokémon cried out, causing the elder Ketchum brother to look down and see the Fire Mouse Pokémon look at him hopefully, with Prof. Elm running over to the Johto Fire Type starter.

"I'm sorry, Isamu! Cyndaquil here... seems to have some times when it wanders away from me when I'm busy with something..." Prof. Elm apologized as he tried to hold up the Fire Type in his arms, only to get blasted on the head with the flames from Cyndaquil's back!

The group and the nurse all watched in surprise before the Fire Mouse Pokémon managed to squirm out of Prof. Elm's arms before it cooed up at the elder Ketchum brother, causing Luna to understand on what it really wanted.

"Hey, Isamu... I think Cyndaquil wants to come with you on your journey!" Luna guessed, much to Isamu's surprise, along with both Nurse Joy and Prof. Elm's surprise.

"Really? With me, Cyndaquil?" Isamu asked, earning an affirmative cry and nod from the Fire Type starter.

"What!? No! No! Cyndaquil, you already have a Trainer coming for you later this week-" Prof. Elm began to protest, only to get burned on the face by another one of Cyndaquil's Ember attacks, much to the Professor's dismay.

"I don't think there's much of a choice here now, Professor... Cyndaquil has already taken a liking to Isamu here, and it would be wrong to just keep it away from him when it already has chosen a Trainer it wants to be with!" Nurse Joy reminded with a smile.

"Ugh... I guess... it would be... wrong..." Prof. Elm groaned, as he was still dazed by the burn he had taken on the face from the Ember attack.

 **That evening...**

Eventually, the Johto Professor accepted that Cyndaquil should go with Isamu, much to the Fire Mouse Pokémon's content, as the Johto Fire Type starter was accepted into Isamu's team, making the elder Ketchum brother transport Seadra to the Kanto Professor.

Soon, the five Trainers were soon about to make their way out of New Bark Town, with the Johto Professor, the officer, and the nurse wishing the five good luck on their journey around the region.

"Good luck in the Johto League!" Officer Jenny called out.

"Remember! You can always stop at a Pokémon Center when you run into any trouble!" Nurse Joy called out.

"And be sure to look after Cyndaquil for me, Isamu!" Prof. Elm added before they all said their goodbyes to the group leaving. But as they left, the Johto Professor blinked in realization before he smiled.

"Ah, that reminds me... Tomorrow is also the day when he turns 10, huh..." Prof. Elm chuckled, causing the two women to look at him in confusion.

"Who are you referring to, Professor?" Nurse Joy asked, before Officer Jenny realized on who he meant.

"Ah... You mean the kid living in the forest with the Ninetales, Professor?" Officer Jenny asked, earning a nod from the Johto Professor.

"Yes. The very same." was all Prof. Elm needed to say before he hurried back into his lab to find a way to contact the group again or the boy he was thinking about just now.

 _"After all... The kid could use some friends..._ Human _friends to be exact, instead of just staying in the forest for the rest of his life..."_ The Johto Professor thought before he began to make preparations for another new Trainer.

 **Meanwhile...**

No one has known that a boy had watched the group leave with an Eevee, Pikachu, and a Togepi. The boy had his eyes on the group, his eyes showing how wild he looked and how determined he looked for a goal he possibly had inside him.

"Vul..." Vulpix cooed on the boy's shoulder before it licked his human friend's cheek, causing the boy to smile before he headed back into the forest. The group would remain on his mind, as what he didn't know... was that it was almost time for him to begin his own journey later...

To be continued...

* * *

 **Isamu's Team:**

 **Eevee (F): (Hidden Power, Double Team, Shadow Ball, Return)**

 **Cyndaquil (M): (Tackle, Ember, Smokescreen, Quick Attack)**

 **Ninetales (F): (Fire Spin, Dig, Safeguard, Flamethrower)**

 **Gloom (F): (Moonlight, Acid, Petal Dance, Sleep Powder)**

 **Dragonair (M): (Dragon Rage, Safeguard, Thunder Wave, Outrage)**

 **Lapras (F): (Ice Beam, Mist, Rain Dance, Whirlpool)**

With Prof. Oak:

 **Seadra (M): (Agility, Surf, Twister, Smokescreen)**

 **Nidoking (M): (Mega Punch, Double Kick, Horn Attack, Poison Sting)**

 **Aerodactyl (M): (Fly, Hyper Beam, Ancient Power, Scary Face)**

 **Pidgeot (M): (Whirlwind, Mirror Move, Wing Attack, Sky Attack)**

 **Sandslash (M): (Crush Claw, Dig, Slash, Double Team)**

Next chapters:

 **Chapter 2: Me Vulpix Boy! Me Name Lorcan!**

 **Chapter 3: A Rookie Trainer! Batter Up!**

 **Chapter 4: A Grudge Match! You're Out!**

 **Chapter 5: A Sappy Start! Heracross Appears!**

 **Chapter 6: The Truth to the Sap Issue!**

 **Next chapter preview:**

Isamu: This can't be right... Wait, where did the others go? I thought we were with them a minute ago...

Luna: Don't tell me... We've been separated? But, huh...? Was... Was that a boy I just saw just now...?

Boy: W-Who are you...? You're not bad people...? Are you friends with Professor Elm?

Luna: That's what we should be asking! What are you doing in a forest like this? Where are your parents?

Boy: Lorcan's parents are the Ninetales! Are you bad people or good people to Pokémon?

Isamu: We're good people, of course... But, you said that your parents are the Ninetales? That's a surprise...

 **Events that occurred:**

\- The group arrives at New Bark Town and meets Prof. Elm

\- Isamu meets the thief of Totodile, Silver

\- Cyndaquil joins Isamu as his first Johto Pokémon

\- Isamu battles Silver and wins, but fails to retrieve Totodile

\- Ash, Isamu, and Luna registers for the Johto League


	2. Me Vulpix Boy! Me Name Lorcan!

**Chapter 2: Me Vulpix Boy! Me Name Lorcan!**

Last time on "Pokémon Johto Journey", after hearing about the Johto League from Prof. Oak and Gary, Ash, Isamu, Luna, Misty, and Brock traveled to New Bark Town, where Ash, Isamu, and Luna would be able to register for the Johto League.

But as they arrived at the town, they were all caught up in an investigation about a stolen Totodile! The group then meets Prof. Elm, who was supposed to look after both a Cyndaquil and a Totodile.

But as Officer Jenny discovers footprints from another officer that seemed to belong to the culprits, the group and the officer began to make their way to where the thieves could've been!

But as they all approached the sight, they found Team Rocket blasting off in the air, caused by a boy named Silver! Silver declares Totodile to be his now, and challenged Isamu to a battle, somehow recognizing him.

The battle ended in Isamu's victory with the help of the Fire Mouse Pokémon, Cyndaquil. But despite the loss, Silver manages to escape with another Pokémon named Sneasal. Eventually, the officers continued their search for the boy so they could retrieve the stolen starter.

While the officers were doing that, the three Kanto Trainers got themselves registered for the Johto League, allowing the group to move on to where Violet City was, where it was recommended for their first Johto Gym Battle.

* * *

 **Isamu's POV**

After our leave from New Bark Town, we began to make our way for Violet City, where my first Johto Gym Battle would start, which of course, includes Ash and Luna's first Gym Battle there.

While we were making our way, we came across another forest that seemed to be a bit deeper than the first one we came across while trying to reach for New Bark Town. Misty looked like she was about to complain about getting lost again.

Brock didn't seem so fazed as he had the Town Map guide with him. Luna had sent out Arcanine to keep her company, especially since big things had already had happened when we arrived in New Bark Town.

Ash looked a little annoyed with how deep the woods looked as Pikachu slumped down on his head, looking rather bored and annoyed.

That left only me, being a little irritated with how deep the woods are looking while Eevee just looked around, looking patient. But deep down, I knew that she was a little frightened by the forest again, especially since how scary it would get when it gets dark at night.

"The forest again...!? We better not get lost in this one!" Misty complained, causing me to sigh.

Technically, this wasn't the first time we got lost. We've been lost several times back at the Kanto region, so something like this shouldn't be new to all of us.

Heck, Misty should be getting used to us getting lost by now, but no... Her short temper is what's causing her to be blind of what we had to go through in our past travels together.

"Calm down, Misty... I think I said this before, but this isn't the first time we got lost in a place like this." Luna reminded her, causing me to raise my eyebrows. Well, at least she understood the current situation we were in right now.

"Luna's right. And besides, we're not lost. We're heading towards the right way. First, we head to Cherrygrove City, and then our next destination should be at Violet City, where the first Johto Gym Battle takes place!" Brock explained in reassurance.

His words along with Luna's seemed to have made Misty calm enough to cool off before she shook her head.

"R-Right... I'm sorry... I'm just so tired of having to get lost all the time before we reach our destination. It was kind of giving me a headache..." Misty confessed, causing all of us to seemingly understand her feelings.

"Well, let's just hope this temper of yours doesn't get the better of you, because otherwise... There's a slight chance that your temper could give all of us a headache right now." I reminded her teasingly.

I know... It sounds wrong, but I had to say it.

Despite being a Water Type Trainer, Misty can be a bit hot-headed sometimes over small things, so I had to point out that her short temper could be a problem to all of us.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to get the message quite well as she only gave me a dirty glare. Ash on the other hand, just snickered at the words I gave to our companion about her short temper.

"Very funny, Isamu..." Misty spat out silently before she turned her head away from me, continuing to walk as I just sighed. She may be an expert on Water Types, but she can be quite dense when it comes to compliments or insults...

Nevertheless, our travel towards Cherrygrove City continued on until Arcanine started to growl all of a sudden. We all turned our attention to the growling Pokémon, causing Luna to look worried for her first Pokémon.

"Arcanine? What's wrong?" Luna asked, causing me to search around and see where Arcanine could be growling at.

The others began to do the same until a figure came into our sight. And to our surprise, it was...

"It's a Ninetales!" Ash pointed out, before he scanned it with his Johto Pokédex.

 _"Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon and the evolved form of Vulpix. It has nine tails and a shining golden fleece. Ninetales are said to live very long lives."_ The Pokédex explained, allowing us to recognize the familiar Fire Type Pokémon.

But was this a wild Ninetales? Because I clearly don't remember sending my Ninetales out. Luna had only sent out Arcanine, so Ninetales must be still in her Pokéball. Plus, with Arcanine growling at, we should all know that this isn't the Ninetales that we know of.

"What's a Ninetales doing in a place like this? Could we be inside its territory or something?" Misty asked, causing me to think of the same question.

No... That couldn't be it. Ninetales usually live in mountains or dens. But as far as I know, there doesn't seem to be any mountains near us. And plus, if it lived in a den, then it shouldn't be threatening us since we didn't seem to be near it...

"Don't know, but one thing's for sure, it doesn't seem to happy to seeing us right now!" Brock guessed as he was right. The Ninetales shot a Fire Spin attack towards us! Arcanine immediately countered with Flamethrower without Luna's orders.

As the two Fire Type attacks collided with one another, a large explosion knocked all of us away!

I felt myself being blown back, while hearing Eevee squeal in surprise. I thought I could hear Luna shrieking while Arcanine sounded like he tried to protect her from the explosion, despite of him being part of the explosion's cause as well.

It wasn't long before I felt my back hitting the ground, the impact of it causing me to black out almost immediately...

 **Later...**

By the time I regained consciousness, I felt something lapping onto my cheek, causing me to twitch my eyes as I opened them, only to see Eevee staring at me with worry in her eyes.

"Eevee? Vee?" Eevee questioned, as if she was asking whether I was alright or not.

"I'm... I'm fine, Eevee. To be honest, I should be asking you the same thing. Are you alright?" I asked, only to get an affirmative nod from my Evolution Pokémon, who also responded with a "Vee".

Understanding that she was fine, I sat myself up and looked around. It looked like I was still in the same forest where the Ninetales attacked me and the others... Wait, where did the others go?

"Guys!? Ash!? Misty! Brock! Luna!? Where are you guys!?" I called out, as Eevee tried to call for Pikachu and Togepi, along with the others. Unfortunately, no response responded to our calls.

Nothing but silence, except for the rustling leaves on the trees and the wind blowing a little.

I let Eevee hop onto my shoulder before I folded my arms. This didn't feel good... If the Ninetales was planning to pick on us one by one, then it won't be good if I were to face it right now with Eevee.

But realizing that standing here wasn't going to help much, I decided to take a walk around to find the others and to make sure I don't run into that same angry Ninetales. Because if I somehow confront it again, like I said... it wasn't going to be pretty, probably.

But as I continued my search around with Eevee getting on top of my head, there were rustling in the bushes as it caught my attention. Eevee quickly became cautious of what was about to come out as I slowly approached it.

"Who's there?" I asked cautiously. Suddenly, just as I asked, the rustling on the bushes stopped! That caught me off guard for a moment until a figure came jumping out of the bushes!

"WHOA!" I couldn't help but yell in surprise to see some sort of figure jumping out and running off! Judging by the looks of it, the figure seemed to be a boy... a boy who seemed to be younger than me.

What was a young boy doing in a forest like this!? Does he not know of the Ninetales acting aggravated here!? At that thought coming to my mind, I quickly made a dash for the boy, trying to stop and warn him of an angry Pokémon living here.

"Hey, wait! Stop! It's too dangerous in here!" I shouted out, as Eevee tried to call for the boy. But to my surprise, the boy didn't look back as he kept running, despite of looking like he heard what we were saying...

Eventually, I lost track of the boy, who somehow ran faster than I did. I don't know how, but the boy must've eaten something that made him this energetic. Sighing in defeat, I shook my head, trying to remember of what I really needed to do.

"Right... I still need to find the others before the Ninetales does..." I spoke to myself, with Eevee giving a cry of her agreement.

But just as I was about to move again, there was another rustling on the bushes, causing me to tense at it. Could it be that same kid again? No... it couldn't be. Or could it be that angry Ninetales from before?

As if wanting to attack the possible enemy before the enemy could make the initiative strike, Eevee let out a battle cry before she leapt towards the bushes to strike at whoever's watching us this time.

But to my surprise and hers...

"Eek! Eevee, it's just me!" A familiar voice rang out, causing me to immediately recognize the voice as I called out to that person.

"Wait... Luna!?" I called out, as I ran over to see Eevee surprised to see herself biting onto Luna's arm, while Luna winced in pain from the initiative attack Eevee gave her just now.

Arcanine glared at Eevee, but didn't try to attack her, probably since Eevee was a Pokémon that was a friend of Luna's along with mine.

"Isamu...? So you're here, too..." Luna said, forgetting the pain from Eevee's bite as my Evolution Pokémon gave her an apologetic look and cry. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, before apologizing too for Eevee's actions.

"Sorry about that... We thought you were that same Ninetales that blown all of us back." I spoke out, causing her to sigh before she shook her head.

"Well then, I guess it was lucky that we ran into each other instead of running into that Ninetales. Have you seen the others yet?" she asked, causing me to shake my head in response to show that I couldn't find the others yet.

"Not yet... Although, I was running after a young boy..." I admitted, causing Luna to be confused as to what I was saying.

"A young boy? What was a young boy doing here in a place like this?" she asked, causing me to shrug. How would I know why the boy was here? As far as I'm concerned, that boy could be in trouble with that Ninetales around.

"No clue. But what I do know is, that besides us... that boy could be in danger if that Ninetales is still around..." I reminded, causing her to understand of the situation that I got myself into before she made an offer to me.

"Is there anything I can do to help? If that boy is here like you said, then I want to help him out. He probably doesn't know about the danger he's in." Luna offered to me, with Arcanine giving a growl, sounding like he would lend a hand to us as well.

I could only smile at her, nodding to her offer before speaking out the words of my approval.

"That would be great. That would make this more easier since there would be two of us and our Pokémon to help with the search." I agreed, causing her to nod before she took out two Pokéballs to give us some help.

"Furret! Pichu! Come on out, you guys!" Luna shouted out, causing her two Pokémon to appear to her. They both looked like they were ready to help us with whatever they needed as Luna explained our situation to them.

"A young boy was running around in the woods... If one of you two find him, can you please take him to us? That boy could be in danger in a forest like this." Luna asked, causing both of her Pokémon to understand the situation... I think.

Pichu adjusted the blue goggles on her head and blue scarf around her neck, before making a squeak and showing a determined expression on her face. Furret just nodded several times before the two ran off to make a search of their own.

"Guess I should do the same. Dragonair and Gloom! I need your help for this!" I called out, allowing my two evolved Pokémon to appear so that they could help us.

"There's a kid running around in the forest. There's also that Ninetales going on around, looking angry. Could you two find the kid and bring him to us? Furret and Pichu already started on their search for him." I explained.

They immediately got the message as they went their separate ways to search for the boy. Once the four Pokémon were tasked to find him, that only left me and Luna, along with Eevee and Arcanine.

"Let's go." was all I needed to say to catch Luna's attention before she nodded as we made our way across the forest to continue our search for the boy. But as we were searching around, I couldn't help but feel something was keeping an eye on us.

It felt weird and uncomfortable, but I didn't dare say a word, knowing that this something might attack if it was a hostile being. If Luna is feeling this, then she should be aware of what's about to come to us if one of us makes the wrong step.

"Is someone there?" I called out, hoping that something might respond to my question.

No answer...

"This is starting to give me the creeps, Isamu... And it's not even close to being dark yet..." Luna spoke out, her voice sounding a little silent so that whoever is stalking us isn't hearing of what she is feeling.

"I know..." was all I could say to assure her that I felt the same way.

But just as things felt like they could get even worse, there was another rustling on the bushes, causing the both of us and our starter Pokémon to turn and see who was hiding in the bushes.

"Who's there?" I called out cautiously. But as I asked, another figure jumped out of the bushes, looking rather ruffled and startled as it shook it head before looking up at us! This is...

"It's an Eevee!" Luna exclaimed in surprise, causing me to take notice of the wild Eevee staring at us for a moment before it squealed in fright before it scrambled to try and escape from us.

The Eevee that is with me tried to call it back before she made a dash after it, much to Luna and my surprise.

"Eevee, hold on!" I called out as I ran after my Evolution Pokémon. I could hear Luna and Arcanine joining the chase as the wild Eevee continued to make a quick escape to try and escape us: its pursuers.

But the Eevee that was my partner didn't seem to get it as she called out to it again, sounding like he was saying that we're not its enemies. But... the wild Eevee running away seemed to have been too scared to listen as it just kept running.

Eventually, the chase led us to a clearing where there were less trees and bushes around. And just when my Eevee tried to continue her chase after the wild Eevee, a small fireball came out of nowhere and stopped her in her tracks!

She squealed at the sight of the surprise attack before jumping back, by the time Luna and I had arrived with Arcanine behind us.

"Eevee!" I exclaimed, worried about what could've happened to my Evolution Pokémon. Immediately after hearing me, Eevee dashed up to my shoulder, seemingly still stunned from the small fireball that almost hit her.

As I turned to where the fireball had came from, I couldn't help but be surprised to see another Pokémon getting in front of the scared wild Eevee.

"It's a Vulpix..." I spoke out, causing Luna to see where the wild Fox Pokémon was. Arcanine just narrowed his eyes but didn't do anything as the wild Vulpix growled at us, probably angry since we tried to chase after Eevee.

"Hey... Do you think that Eevee is friends with that Vulpix over there?" Luna asked, causing me to realize what she meant.

"Probably... Otherwise, it wouldn't have attacked our Eevee here." I guessed, as Eevee just blinked at the growling Vulpix. But before any of us could try to reassure the Vulpix that we weren't bad guys, another voice interfered with our confrontation.

"Vulpix! Eevee!" A young boy cried out. That caught both me and Luna off guard as we witnessed a boy running up to the two wild Pokémon, as they both ran up to the boy, jumping into his arms as we stared in disbelief.

So they weren't wild Pokémon, but Pokémon belonged to that boy? But...

From the looks of it, that boy seemed to be younger than us, making him a bit too young to train Pokémon. Wait a second... That boy...

"That's the boy I was running after when I was trying to find you and the others." I spoke to Luna, catching her surprise. She quickly whirled back to see the boy glaring at us as he growled at us... Wait, growled?

"Who are you?! Why are you trying to hurt Eevee and Vulpix!? Are you poachers!? Bad guys!?" The boy snarled, asking us serious questions that seemed to make him more mad.

"N-No! We're not! I promise that we're not! We're just... Pokémon Trainers trying to get to Cherrygrove City!" Luna tried to explain, catching the boy's attention as his glare lowered down, despite of his expression remaining serious.

"Cherrygrove Town?" The boy repeated in question, causing his two Pokémon friends to question us with questioning looks.

Did the boy and his Pokémon not know which town we were talking about? With Luna mentioning our first destination in Johto, he certainly seemed to be confused as to what she was talking about.

But after a moment, he shook his head and regained his glare, as he continued to growl at us like a wild Pokémon would.

"Why should me believe you!? You could be trying to trick me, just like the other poachers nearly did before!" The boy snapped, his tone sounding a bit fierce.

"Like we said, we're not poachers... How do you want us to prove to you that we're not?" Luna asked, trying to assure the boy that we weren't like the morons that poach Pokémon...

Seriously, I don't blame him for accusing us as one. Back at Kanto, we've ran into quite a lot of poachers that were trying to steal rare Pokémon. One such as when a poacher tried to steal Luna and Yellow's Eevee siblings back when they were wild.

There were also many times when Team Rocket members tried to poach Pokémon for their own desires, forcing me and Luna to stop them when we got separated from the others. And that included two more Team Rocket morons: Cassidy and... Bill?

Because of those times, I had a little hard time trusting in adults, except for Gym Leaders, Professors, and other adults I knew that I could trust. Pokémon are living beings after all, just like us humans. They had every right to live with the way they want to.

And this kid... he seems to be thinking the same thing, with the way he's accusing us of being poachers to both his Pokémon. Yet, if there was one way we could prove that we're not poachers, what would that...

"Prove it...? Well..." The boy started to ask before he thought up a way to make us prove that we're not his enemies or his Pokémon's enemies.

But before he could speak further, a big figure got in front of us and glared at us! Oh no... It was that same Ninetales that blown us away from when it tried to attack us!

I immediately froze up, as did Luna while Arcanine just growled. Eevee tried to put up a brave face, but I knew that she was feeling a bit scared, due to the small shaking she was doing with her furry body.

The Ninetales growled at us, with the boy yelping in surprise at seeing the Ninetales.

"Dad!" The boy called out, pausing me in my tracks.

"Wait... Dad?" I repeated in disbelief, not believing of what I heard just now. This kid... is calling the Ninetales his dad? Luna looked shocked too, as she lost her scared expression. Both Eevee and Arcanine looked stunned to hear this as well, before the Ninetales stopped growling.

It quickly turned to the boy and licked his face in affection, looking worried as it sniffed all over his body, causing him to laugh along with his two Pokémon as they were being sniffed and licked over as well.

"D-Dad! Come on, stop! That tickles! Me okay!" The kid laughed before the father Ninetales stopped, looking at the boy and his two Pokémon in relief before he glared back to where Luna and I was standing with Eevee and Arcanine.

But that didn't make me scared... It rather made me feel a bit awkward. This kid... he belongs to that Ninetales? Or does that Ninetales belong to the kid? Either way, it's kind of crazy to hear the kid calling a Pokémon his father.

But, that would of course, mean...

The kid must be an orphan if he believed his Pokémon to be a father instead of a human adult. Nevertheless, with the way Ninetales is glaring at us, I'm sure he won't just let us go now that we've seen both the boy and his two Pokémon.

Luna, of course, tried to convince the father Ninetales that we meant no harm to the boy and his two Pokémon.

"U-Um, Ninetales...? We're sorry if we... trespassed in your territory, but... we don't mean... to make any harm. We just want to get past... so that we can get to Cherrygrove City, which is our current destination..." Luna started to speak.

Her tone was a bit shaky, which could show on how nervous she was since she was speaking to the Pokémon that got us all separated in the first place. But she kept her composure as she continued to explain.

"Y-You see... the reason why we're still here... is because we thought the boy was in danger... since you attacked us when we first met, so... I thought, well..." Luna started to continue on before the boy interrupted her.

"Me in no danger! This Ninetales is my dad! And these are my younger brother and sister!" The boy protested, gesturing that the two Pokémon he's holding in his hands were... his siblings? The Vulpix and the Eevee?

Okay... This boy is definitely not ordinary if he believed Pokémon to be his family. The two Pokémon in his arms gave cries of affirmation, signaling that they were agreeing with what the boy was saying.

"O-Oh... I see... Well then, I guess we all had the wrong idea..." Luna sheepishly admitted, causing me to shake my head in disbelief. Of all the times I've gotten the situation wrong, this was definitely the weirdest situation ever.

The father Ninetales lowered his glare, but remained suspicious of us before he laid down a little, giving a head gesture to the boy. Realizing what his dad meant, the boy got onto his father Ninetales' back, with his Pokémon siblings still in his arms.

The father Ninetales then turned to us, making a demanding cry which the boy translated for us to understand.

"Dad said that he wants you to follow, to make sure you two aren't suspicious..." The boy explained, causing Luna and me to sigh, understanding that the father Pokémon didn't see us real enemies yet, but as suspects...

Arcanine didn't seem too comfortable with the demand but went with it, probably to keep Luna from any unnecessary danger. Eevee didn't say anything on my shoulder, as she just looked worried and a bit frightened for what happened so far.

Nevertheless, we followed after the father Ninetales, following him to where he wanted us to go. By the time we arrived at another part of the forest, there was a growl coming from not too far up ahead.

Ahead was a den, with another Ninetales living inside it! That must be the mother Ninetales of the boy...

"Hi, Mom..." The boy spoke out, with his two Pokémon siblings called out in unison. The mother Ninetales smiled at the little Pokémon and the kid, but glared at me and Luna, as she turned to the father Ninetales.

"Nine! Ninetales nine!? Ninetales?" The mother Ninetales looked like she was questioning the father Ninetales, much to the father's chagrin as he looked like he was getting beaten up emotionally by her harsh barks and cries.

Luna watched with a worried expression on her face while Arcanine just watched blankly. I guess this must've reminded him of when he and Ninetales argued with each other sometimes...

I guess this is how parents work whenever they argue over something that one side doesn't agree with.

The father Ninetales managed to get a few barks and calls out, sounding like he was explaining as to why we were here. At that point, the mother Ninetales lowered her glare, but kept her suspicious eyes on us.

The boy explained, translating as to what his Ninetales parents were arguing about.

"Mom wanted to know why you two were here while Dad explained why. She doesn't trust you guys just yet, just like Dad does..." The boy explained, causing me to rub the back of my head, as I knew already on what the glare was for.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out..." I muttered to myself with Eevee giving a sheepish smile.

"So then... How do you want us to prove that we're trustworthy?" Luna asked, wanting to earn the trust of the kid's Ninetales parents. The mother narrowed her eyes and was about to speak to her mate, until someone else interrupted their conversation.

"Don't worry, Ninetales! They mean no harm!" A familiar voice assured, causing all of us to turn where the voice was coming from. And to our surprise...

"Prof. Elm!?" Luna exclaimed in surprise. I couldn't blame her for being surprised. Heck, I was surprised too, as to why the Professor was here instead of being inside his laboratory.

"It's good to see you again, Lorcan! And that goes for your brother Vulpix and your sister Eevee!" The Professor didn't seem so surprised to see the boy with his two Pokémon siblings as he smiled sheepishly at the Professor.

"It's... good to see you, too... Prof. Elm." The boy spoke out shyly, making a different tone than when he had confronted us for the first time.

At that point, so many questions rose up to my head, but I only asked the important one...

"Professor... do you know this kid and his Pokémon family?" I asked, causing Prof. Elm to turn to where Luna and I were standing at with our Pokémon friends, before he smiled and explained.

"Ah, yes... Isamu and Luna... I've yet to told you or the others about this boy, did I? You see... this boy's name is Lorcan. He's a boy that lives with Pokémon, having the ability to understand their language, while acting as one, too." Prof. Elm explained.

Wait, the ability to understand Pokémon language? That's just like Yellow, only... that Yellow understands Pokémon just by focusing on what they're thinking about.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you two and the others about this... Ever since that day when Totodile was stolen, it just slipped out of my mind!" The Professor looked apologetic when he apologized to us for not informing us about this boy, who was known as Lorcan.

"So... Professor, how exactly do you know him... Lorcan?" Luna asked, causing me to turn to the Johto Professor. The Professor cleared his throat before he explained of how he came to know Lorcan in his past times.

 **End POV**

"Well, you see... It all started a few years ago when I was getting used to becoming a Pokémon Professor. I wasn't used to handing out starter Pokémon to Trainers, and I also wasn't used to getting out much, until my assistants pestered me to do so..." Prof. Elm started to explain.

 **Flashback**

 _Prof. Elm was walking across the forest to search for any Pokémon that he had yet seen before around New Bark Town as he sighed._

 _"Of all the days my assistants chose to throw me out of the lab so I can get out more... This just had to be the day. I mean, there are signs of Pokémon being around here, but there aren't any signs of Pokémon being here now!"_ _Prof. Elm complained as he folded his arms._

 _But just as he made his complaint, he heard rustling coming from the bushes. Perking up, he turned to where the bushes were before he started to make his way towards it._

 _"Who's there?" Prof. Elm asked curiously as he got even closer. But before he could react, something came out and knocked him to the ground! The Johto Professor yelped in surprise before falling on his back as the figure quickly got off of him._

 _As he slowly started to get up, he looked to see a rather shocking figure, which turns out to be... a young boy? But this was no ordinary boy._

 _"What in the world...?" Prof. Elm started to gasp, as he checked on what the boy looked like._

 _His skin was tan, and he looked like a eight or nine year old. He wore nothing but ragged shorts that seemed to have been ragged due to some possible fighting with some people or maybe wild Pokémon._

 _He had brown eyes, along with the messy brown hair, but what interested the Professor the most was what he had on him. There were Pokémon ears coming out from his messy hair that seemed to be rather familiar._

 _He even had a tail of a young Pokémon! The Professor adjusted his glasses as they were about to fall off, due to his disbelief of what he was seeing with his eyes right now. He shook his head before he noticed the boy standing on all fours while growling at him!_

 _"Grr..." The boy growled, his eyes showing on how angry and fierce he looked at the Professor._

 _"N-Now, now... I don't mean any harm... J-Just... Who are you? Or, what are you, rather...?" Prof. Elm asked, only to get more growls from the wild boy in response. Before the Professor could do anything to reassure that he was no enemy, a few more figures ran over to where the boy was!_

 _"Nine! Ninetales Nine!" A familiar duo of Pokémon cried out as the Johto Professor widened his eyes at recognizing the two Pokémon. They were Ninetales! They seemed to be mates together, due to the first Ninetales acting motherly, with the second one acting fatherly._

 _Among them, was a young Vulpix cooing before it ran over to where the boy stood. The wild boy quickly dropped his growling expression before he nuzzled the Vulpix just as the young Fox Pokémon nuzzled his face in affection._

 _Behind the Vulpix was a young Eevee, who did the same for the boy as he pulled the two young Pokémon into his arms. The Ninetales just watched with relief on their face before they turned their heads to where the Johto Professor was._

 _Prof. Elm stiffened at the stares he was getting from the two evolved Fox Pokémon. If he thought he was in trouble already, then the troubling situation immediately got even worse, as with two evolved Pokémon staring him down, there was a very little chance that he could outrun them._

 _"Ah ha... ha... This is a rather... big... problem..." Prof. Elm laughed nervously, only for the boy to glare at him again until the mother Ninetales licked his cheek, comforting the wild boy as she spoke gently to him._

 _"Ninetales... Tales nine..." The mother Ninetales spoke softly, catching the wild boy by surprise before the father Ninetales kept his stare at the Johto Professor, who was confused on what the mother was telling to the wild boy._

 _Eventually, after the mother finished speaking, the wild boy began to whine in protest by shaking his head, only for the father Ninetales to give him a reassuring smile, with the mother Ninetales nuzzling his face softly._

 _The boy grumbled a little before he gave a reluctant nod, as he slowly made his way to the Professor on all fours, making the Johto Professor be confused until he realized on what the Ninetales could be wanting him to do._

 _"T-This... This may be a long shot, but could you two... be wanting me to teach this boy on how to act as a human like me...?" Prof. Elm asked. His relief was given to him when the mother Ninetales gave a short nod of approval._

 _The boy still had his pouting face, but didn't dare go against his mother Ninetales' request._

 **Flashback End**

"...and that's how I met Lorcan here, the little Vulpix boy that the two of you have met just now." Prof. Elm explained, causing Luna to frown in confusion as he turned to where Lorcan was, playing with Vulpix and Eevee, along with Isamu's Eevee, who joined their game.

"But... what happened to the tail and ears, Professor? When Isamu and I had first met him, he didn't have those with him... Don't tell me... He didn't get them...?" Luna started to ask, fearing for what happened to the boy.

Isamu paled a little at guessing what she was going to say until the Johto Professor immediately shook his head at realizing what the Kanto girl was getting to.

"Oh no! No! They didn't get cut off! Of course not! You see... if people were to discover on what Lorcan really looked like, then he would be taken to be experimented on... His Ninetales parents were the ones that helped him hide his tail and ears..." Prof. Elm explained.

At hearing his name, the Vulpix boy confirmed that it was true before he explained with a smile on his face.

"The Professor's right. Me can hide me ears and tail, thanks to Mom and Dad's teaching! But... it doesn't work all the time, since me can't keep it inside me for a long time. It'll eventually have to show. That's why Mom and Dad have been helping me find a way to keep my ears and tail hidden most of the time." Lorcan explained.

"If it's alright... then, would it be alright if we see it for ourselves...?" Luna asked, feeling a bit sheepish at her request. The elder Ketchum brother raised an eyebrow at her for making such an odd request before the Vulpix boy gave a small nod.

'Sure... The Professor trusts you two, so Lorcan trusts you two as well!" Lorcan assured before he began to close his eyes and clench his fists. The three young Pokémon stopped playing together to watch what Lorcan was trying to do.

The Johto Professor and the Ninetales parents watched carefully as well, as Lorcan squeezed his eyes shut, as if he was trying to focus on doing something big. But by the time he opened his eyes again, his Vulpix ears and tail popped out from his head and back!

"Whoa..." was all Isamu could breath out as he didn't expect for them to just pop out of the boy. Luna on the other hand, had her face darkened for a while, causing both Arcanine and Isamu to look at her in both worry and confusion.

"So... so..." Luna breathed out silently, causing Isamu to call her to get her back to her senses.

"Uh... Luna?" Isamu asked, until Luna quickly made an outburst, enough to surprise everyone around her!

"SO CUTE!" Luna shrieked as she ran over to hug the Vulpix boy, making him surprised as Luna rubbed his head, along with the ears. Her expression showed how blissful she looked, making Lorcan blush red like a pepper.

His Vulpix brother just watched with a teasing smile on his face while his Eevee sister sweat dropped at the ruthless affection he was getting from the human girl as Lorcan tried to get the Kanto girl off of him.

"L-Let go! Let go of me, miss!" Lorcan demanded, his face flushing red even more at the awkward situation he got himself into from the tight hug Luna was giving him. It was embarrassing, especially with his Pokémon siblings and parents all watching him.

Prof. Elm just chuckled while folding his arms at the moment while Isamu sweat dropped. Arcanine on the other hand, just snickered at the behavior his human daughter was giving off, due to her seeing the tail and ears from the Vulpix boy.

The mother Ninetales just smiled and stifled a small giggle at the embarrassing moment her son was forced into while the father Ninetales just sighed, before he too, gave a small smile of amusement.

The awkward moment continued until something loomed over the three young Pokémon, surprising them before something forced them out of the group! They all screamed in surprise, catching everyone's attention.

"Eevee!"

"No! Vulpix! Eevee!" Both Isamu and Lorcan cried out as everyone turned to see the three young Pokémon trapped inside the net! At the sight of the net, the Vulpix boy's eyes flared up as he growled at the sight of it, realizing what this meant.

"Poachers...! They're here!" Lorcan growled hatefully, causing Luna to flinch at the new attitude the Vulpix boy was giving off. The Ninetales parents growled as they tried to run over and free their two children along with Isamu's Eevee.

But before they could get even close, another giant net came out and snagged the two on the ground! The two yelled in surprise as they struggled to get free, catching the two Kanto Trainers and the Professor by surprise.

"W-What is this!?" Prof. Elm exclaimed in shock while the elder Ketchum brother gritted his teeth.

"Oh no!" Luna gasped as Lorcan was more shocked to see his parents get caught this time.

"NO! Mom! Dad!" Lorcan exclaimed as he wanted to run over to them. But just before he could, a familiar laugh stopped the Vulpix boy in his tracks as Isamu snapped at whoever was hiding from their sight.

"Who's there!?" Isamu demanded until a familiar voice spoke first, followed by another familiar voice.

"Prepare for trouble, it's us that are here!"

"And make it double, for we're here to steal!"

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"And Butch!"

"Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now, or you will surely lose the fight!"

At the evil duo wrapping up their motto, both Isamu and Luna glared at them. They recognized the duo from when they had to confront them at the Kanto region and in the Orange Islands!

"It's you two again! Cassidy and Bit! We should've realized that it was you to pull a stunt like this!" Isamu growled, causing Butch to fall over before he quickly got up and glared at the elder Ketchum brother for getting his name wrong again.

"UGH! Hey! Listen, kid! It's not Bit! It's Butch! BUTCH! Didn't your mother ever teach you to get people's names right!?" Butch snapped, as Luna demanded for the Ninetales family and Eevee's freedom.

"Let them all go right now!" Luna demanded, only to get scoffed at by Cassidy.

"Sorry to disappoint you, little girl. But these are OUR Pokémon now, now that we've captured them in the fire-proof nets!" Cassidy sneered, only to hear a growl coming from an unusual looking boy.

"Give... Mom... and Dad... back right now! And give... my brother and sister back, too!" Lorcan demanded angrily, only for Cassidy to eye at him with disgust.

"Ugh... And who is this kid? And what's with the fake ears and tail? It's too early for Halloween, kid." Cassidy scoffed, only for Butch to take out a Pokéball with an evil smirk on his face.

"Forget the ears and tail... The kid is calling the Pokémon his family... Now that's a good joke if I ever heard one!" Butch laughed, making Lorcan even angrier as Isamu and Luna just glared at their enemies.

The Johto Professor joined in with the glaring as he wasn't liking where this was going at all.

But before anyone could speak further or make an action, something blasted the two Team Rocket members from behind! Four attacks knocked the duo off balance as they both fell on the ground from the attacks they had taken just now.

"AUGH! What the...!? Who did that!?" Cassidy groaned as she sat up on top of Butch, who was still stunned from the surprise he and his teammate had to take from behind. As everyone else looked to see the attackers, both Isamu and Luna immediately recognized on who they were.

"Furret and Pichu! They're here!" Luna exclaimed, with Isamu recognizing his two Pokémon.

"Dragonair and Gloom, too! They've made it just in time..." Isamu pointed out as the four Pokémon glared to where the Team Rocket members were, as the two recovered from the blast they were forced to take from behind.

"Ugh! A sneak attack!? That's pretty low, for Pokémon such as yourselves!" Butch snapped as Cassidy took out a Pokéball as well.

"Let's teach these brats some manners, by stealing their Pokémon!" Cassidy declared, with Butch agreeing to it.

"Houndour, come on out!"

"Hitmontop, you too!"

The two new Pokémon came out to face the four Pokémon that attacked their Trainers as Luna blinked in confusion to see new Pokémon for the first time.

"What Pokémon are they...?" Luna asked, causing the Johto Professor to recognize them.

"The one that woman sent out was a Houndour! A Fire and Dark Type! The one the weird man sent out is a Hitmontop! A Fighting Type!" Prof. Elm pointed out, causing the two Kanto Trainers to quickly scan their enemies' new Pokémon.

 _"_ _Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokémon. Hitmontop's smooth graceful kicks are deceptively powerful. Opponents may be surprised by their force, so beware."_ Isamu's Pokédex buzzed, as Luna's scanned the Fire-Dark Type.

 _"_ _Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. Houndour travel in packs and communicate through barks in order to surround their_ _prey."_ Luna's Pokédex buzzed, allowing the Kanto Trainers to know what their opponents were like now.

"Houndour! Take them down with Flamethrower!"

"Hitmontop! Send them flying with Rolling Kick!"

The orders were quickly called out as the Fighting Type spun to kick Dragonair and Gloom away while the Dark Pokémon attempted to burn Furret and Pichu with the Fire Type attack. The two Kanto Trainers quickly responded to counter their attacks.

"Dragonair, counter back with Safeguard! And Gloom! Use Petal Dance!" Isamu exclaimed. The flames were blocked by the Safeguard attack, thanks to Dragonair using it. As for Gloom, she managed to counter the flames with her use of the Petal Dance attack.

The two attacks cancelled each other out, causing Houndour to growl for its attack failing. As for Luna, she quickly made a call to counter Butch's moves.

"Furret, dodge with Agility! And Pichu, you use Double Team to dodge!" Luna cried out. Clones of Pichu made the Rolling Kick attack miss while Furret's use of Agility allowed him to dodge every kick sent at him!

The two Team Rocket members glared in annoyance before Cassidy commanded for another attack.

"In that case, how about this!? Houndour, use..." Cassidy started to say before she and Butch heard a loud battle cry. As both of them turned in surprise, Lorcan was already onto them as he knocked Cassidy down on the ground.

"AUGH! Why you little...!?" Cassidy shrieked before Butch was knocked to the ground too, as the boy knocked his feet to sweep him off.

"UGH! What the...!?" Butch exclaimed, causing both Houndour and Hitmontop to turn to their Trainers in surprise. At that moment, Luna took this moment to command Arcanine for the final attack.

"Alright, Arcanine! It's your turn! Use Flamethrower to send them packing!" Luna shouted out. The Legendary Pokémon didn't need to be told twice, as he blasted the Fire Type attack to where both Houndour and Hitmontop were!

The two yelled in pain before they were knocked back onto their Trainers, much to Cassidy and Butch's surprise. But before they could try to recover from the second hit they had taken from both Lorcan's assault and Arcanine's Flamethrower, another Flamethrower was headed to their way!

"Oh no..." Cassidy started to say with Butch finishing it off.

"We're toast...!" Butch exclaimed as the Flamethrower caused an explosion! The blast knocked the duo into the air with their defeated Pokémon as they were sent flying like Jessie, James, and Meowth always did with the group.

"Hey, Cassidy... Do you feel a deja vu in this...?" Butch asked, causing Cassidy to immediately understand what her teammate is referring to.

"If you mean that kind of deja vu... then YES!" Cassidy groaned as the two began to disappear out of sight into the blue sky.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The evil duo yelled before they were out of sight.

By the time the Team Rocket members were finally gone, Lorcan quickly freed his Ninetales parents desperately while Luna and Isamu worked on freeing the two Eevee and Vulpix. The rest of their Pokémon scurried over to help their Trainer friends out.

Soon, the captive Pokémon were free from the net, as Lorcan immediately embraced his Ninetales parents in both joy and relief.

"Mom... Dad... You're okay..." Lorcan breathed out in relief, as the mother nuzzled her son to show that she was alright. The father just licked his cheek, while feeling proud for his half-human son's attempt at saving the both of them and his siblings.

Eevee quickly nuzzled her human brother, as did Lorcan's two siblings as they ran over to their half-human brother to jump into his arms as the Vulpix boy hugged them in again with joy and relief.

Prof. Elm just watched with a relieved smile, seeing that everything seemed to have went okay, since the Pokémon were now freed and the enemies are gone out of their sight.

 **That evening...**

The sun was about to set by the time the two Kanto Trainers were about to make their leave to reunite with the others. But before they could do so, the Johto Professor had stopped them to make a request for them.

"Ahem... Isamu? Luna?" Prof. Elm called, causing the two Kanto Trainers to turn to the Johto Professor in question.

"What is it, Professor?" Luna asked, allowing the Johto Professor to explain.

"If it wouldn't bother you two or the others, I was hoping if you would take Lorcan with you on your journey around the Johto region. I'm sure that the experience for him would be great for him to learn that not all humans are bad, like the two of you here!" Prof. Elm explained.

The sudden request surprised the two before the Johto Professor called out to the Vulpix boy.

"Okay, Lorcan! Are you ready?" Prof. Elm called out, causing the Vulpix boy to grumble a little with a pout before he came out of the bushes to show his new companions on what he was going to wear on the journey.

"Yes, Professor..." Lorcan pouted, feeling uncomfortable with the outfit he was wearing.

The Vulpix boy had red shorts that were neater than his ragged shorts. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves ripped off, along with wearing a jacket that seemed to look a little wild for nature. He even had a scarf around his neck with fiery pictures on them.

His shoes were sandals, much to his displeasure as he had never worn shoes before, since he's always wanted to the feel the ground with his own two feet.

"Do Lorcan really have to wear all of this...? It's too uncomfortable, and it makes me feel more like... a human." Lorcan whined, with his two Pokémon siblings climbing up on his shoulder to comfort the young boy for the clothing he had to wear to act and be like a human.

"Vee..."

"Vul..." The two cried out with sheepish smiles, as Isamu raised an eyebrow before a smile crept up on his face. The Johto Professor gave the Vulpix boy an apologetic look before he explained as to why it needed to be done.

"Well, you won't be getting anywhere with just your ragged shorts, young man. And besides, your Ninetales parents seemed to agree that you needed to look more like a human when you're traveling with other humans and Pokémon, right?" Prof. Elm asked.

Pouting, the Vulpix boy gave a reluctant nod before he turned to his new companions.

"Um... How does Lorcan look...?" Lorcan asked, causing the Kanto girl to giggle at the blunt question given to both her and Isamu.

"You look amazing, Lorcan. And you're even hiding your tail and ears too, which definitely makes you look more human-like!" Luna assured softly, causing the Vulpix boy to blink before he turned his eyes away from the Kanto girl.

"T-Thank you..." Lorcan spoke sheepishly, before he heard familiar cries behind him. The Vulpix boy turned to see his two Ninetales parents approaching him with the usual expressions on their faces: The mother's looked soft while the father's expression looked stern.

"Tales... Ninetales nine..." The mother Ninetales spoke softly before she nuzzled her son's face, along with Eevee and Vulpix's.

"Mm... Lorcan will remember, Mom..." Lorcan assured softly back, before the father spoke his words to his three children.

"Ninetales... Ninetales nine... Tales..." The father Ninetales spoke, causing the Vulpix boy to understand what his father meant, before he gave a small nod to him.

"Lorcan understands, Dad... Lorcan always does, of course." Lorcan assured confidently, earning a smile of approval from the father.

The parents nuzzled their children once more, making Isamu smile softly at the touching moment while Luna just smiled happily, feeling happy for their new traveling companion.

Soon, the three companions began to say their goodbyes to the Johto Professor, with Lorcan saying his goodbye to his Ninetales parents more, as he felt a little troubled of having to leave his family behind when trouble might occur.

The same went for his two siblings. Vulpix was more worried on what could happen to his parents, especially when Team Rocket attempted to not just capture both him and Eevee, along with Isamu's Eevee... but they were also trying to capture his parents as well.

Eevee felt worried in the same way, having the same worried thoughts about what could happen to her Ninetales family.

But with the reassurance from Isamu and Luna, the Vulpix boy managed to stay calm along with his two Pokémon siblings, as they soon slowly believed that their parents would be safe and strong... no matter where they went together.

By the time the three got out of the forest, they finally reunited with Ash, Misty, and Brock. The three were relieved to see both Isamu and Luna and their Pokémon unharmed in any way. But they were, of course, surprised to see another boy walking besides them.

After a much needed introduction, the Vulpix boy soon got to know who his other three companions were, before he gained a smile on his face on meeting Trainers that seemed to care for their Pokémon.

The elder Ketchum brother was the one to reveal to the others that Lorcan's family were Pokémon, surprising them at first...

But with Luna explaining a bit more about Lorcan and what he's really like, the others soon came to understand that he's no ordinary boy, who would definitely go his way to protect Pokémon, even if it meant attacking enemies to keep his Pokémon family and friends safe.

"So not all humans are bad after all...?" Lorcan asked, causing Ash to assure the Vulpix boy.

"Of course we're not bad! Pikachu and I wouldn't be together now if I was the bad guy for Pokémon!" Ash assured with a grin, with Pikachu siding with the younger Ketchum brother.

"We all love Pokémon like the way you do, Lorcan... Of course we're their friends." Misty assured softly, with Brock adding in his agreement.

"She's right. We may have different dreams, but the feelings we have for our Pokémon will always be strong, no matter what happens." Brock added, causing the Vulpix boy to lose the rest of his uneasy feelings about his new traveling companions.

Little did the Vulpix boy know, that with the five of them being his friends and companions, he would be having a wild adventure that he had never done before... even with all the little adventures he had with his Pokémon family and friends back in his home forest.

To be continued...

* * *

 **Isamu's Team:**

 **Eevee (F): (Hidden Power, Double Team, Shadow Ball, Return)**

 **Cyndaquil (M): (Tackle, Ember, Smokescreen, Quick Attack)**

 **Ninetales (F): (Fire Spin, Dig, Safeguard, Flamethrower)**

 **Gloom (F): (Moonlight, Acid, Petal Dance, Sleep Powder)**

 **Dragonair (M): (Dragon Rage, Safeguard, Thunder Wave, Outrage)**

 **Lapras (F): (Ice Beam, Mist, Rain Dance, Whirlpool)**

With Prof. Oak:

 **Seadra (M): (Agility, Surf, Twister, Smokescreen)**

 **Nidoking (M): (Mega Punch, Double Kick, Horn Attack, Poison Sting)**

 **Aerodactyl (M): (Fly, Hyper Beam, Ancient Power, Scary Face)**

 **Pidgeot (M): (Whirlwind, Mirror Move, Wing Attack, Sky Attack)**

 **Sandslash (M): (Crush Claw, Dig, Slash, Double Team**

Next chapters:

 **Chapter 3: A Rookie Trainer! Batter Up!**

 **Chapter 4: A Grudge Match! You're Out!**

 **Chapter 5: A Sappy Start! Heracross Appears!**

 **Chapter 6: The Truth to the Sap Issue!**

 **Chapter 7: A Hard Roll! Donphan Rolls Through!**

 **Next chapter preview:**

Casey: Another win for Team Casey! Will the fans please rise and salute Casey and Chikorita by singing their victory song!?

Luna: You must be the new Trainer that started her journey out with a Chikorita... I didn't think we'd meet you here...

Casey: Mm hm! And I'm not just a Trainer... I root for the baseball team called the Electabuzz team! They're the big stars out there!

Ash: Hold on... But didn't the Electabuzz finish last place on the last season? They couldn't even beat the Magikarp or Starmie if they tried!

Isamu: Ash, while I agree that the Electabuzz didn't do so well during the last baseball season, can't you see it's riling her up?

Casey: ARGH! Alright, that's it! We'll have a battle, right now! You have no right to insult the team like that just because of an unlucky break!

 **Events that occurred:**

\- The group meets Lorcan and Vulpix for the first time

\- The group discovers that Lorcan is half-human and half-Vulpix

\- Isamu and Luna meets Cassidy and Butch again, with Lorcan meeting them for the first time

\- Lorcan decides to join the group on their journey around Johto


	3. A Rookie Trainer! Batter Up!

**Chapter 3: A Rookie Trainer! Batter Up!**

"Wow... You're pretty lucky, big bro! You've got a real Cyndaquil by your side!" Ash commented, as he smiled at his big brother, who smiled back at him.

After the group left New Bark Town and the forest from where Lorcan was born, the five Trainers were now heading for Violet City, where Ash, Luna, and Isamu's first Johto Gym Battle would take place.

"That's because the little tough guy chose to come with me after our battle with Silver. Isn't that right, little guy?" Isamu asked, as he turned to the little Fire Type, who was riding onto his left shoulder.

"Cynda! Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil cried happily while Eevee smiled at her new friend as she rode on Isamu's right shoulder.

Lorcan remained silent as he turned to see others chatting with each other before he frowned. He looked down at Vulpix, who was walking besides him on his right while his Eevee was walking on his left.

"Vul?"

"Vee?" The two questioned the Vulpix boy if he was alright or not.

"Mm... Me okay, you two... Don't worry." Lorcan assured softly as he didn't notice Luna glancing at him in worry before she turned back to the others.

"Still... I can't believe that poor Totodile is in the hands of that jerk..." Misty said sadly, causing Isamu to narrow his eyes, before he recalled as to what Silver had told him before he made his escape.

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"So... this is what it's like to face someone who defeated my father in battle..." The boy growled inaudibly, before he snapped at the elder brother, making a promise that he would try to accomplish with everything that he had in him._

 _"Hear me now, Isamu Ketchum! You may have won this pointless battle, but I will triumph against you the next time we meet! My name is Silver, and I'm going to become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer." Silver declared._

 **Flashback End**

* * *

 _"What did he mean by me defeating his father...? I don't seem to recall defeating anyone that seems related to him... Yet... I can't shake the feeling that's he related to someone I know... Someone who could be similar to him... but who?"_ Isamu thought.

Just as he was thinking, Brock brought him out of his thoughts by recalling that the Johto Grass Type starter wasn't around for them to see when they were in the Elm Laboratory.

"Too bad we didn't get to see a Chikorita." Brock stated, causing Lorcan to look up at him in confusion.

"What's a Chikorita?" Lorcan asked, causing the others to turn to him in surprise.

"You mean, you don't know, Lorcan? I thought you lived with the wild Pokémon during your whole life..." Misty asked, causing the Vulpix boy to shake his head.

"Me lived with Mom and Dad, along with Vulpix and Eevee... But me never see a Pokémon called Chikorita before in me life..." Lorcan explained, causing Isamu and Luna to sweat drop as they sheepishly smiled.

"Well, I guess that makes sense..." Luna giggled sheepishly as the elder Ketchum brother scratched the back of his head.

 _"Looks like someone needs to have a speaking lesson... especially with the way he talks. People are going to stare at him later if he keeps talking like that."_ Isamu thought before Eevee sniffed while Pikachu's ears perked up!

"Pi? Pika?"

"Vee? Eevee!" The two starters called out, causing the six Trainers to stop and look to where the two starters were looking.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash started to ask before the group turned to see a very familiar Pokémon up ahead with a girl, who seemed to look like she was a baseball player or a baseball fan.

"We're gonna train hard, hit hard, and knock everybody outta the box! We're in the big leagues and we're playing hardball!" The girl called out loud, as the group watched to see her doing something.

"What's that girl doing?" Misty asked, causing her to receive silence as the answer as she and the others continued to watch.

The girl seemed to be encouraging her Pokémon to do something to keep its fighting spirit up as she made loud orders for her Pokémon to hear.

"One... two... three strikes and they're out! The side is retired and Chikorita wins the game!" The girl called out loud as the Grass Type starter swung its leaf around, as if it was using it to swing at something!

"Is that the Chikorita?" Lorcan asked, causing the others to blink before they all realized that they were still standing by staring.

"Cynda! Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil cried out happily, as he recognized the Grass Type that was with the human girl.

* * *

 **[Pokémon: OK! Opening (English Subbed)]**

 _ **OK!**_

(The opening title appears)

 _ **OK! Let's move on**_

(Ash and Isamu appear together and run together)

 _ **OK! If we're together, we'll be all right**_

(Pikachu and Eevee joins the two brothers)

 _ **OK! The winds are changing**_

(Misty and Luna appear together and joins)

 _ **OK! But that dream won't!**_

(Brock and Lorcan appear together and joins)

(Ho-Oh and Lugia clash with each other in the sky)

 _ **We'll go through it all for that thrill**_  
 _ **And through we won't notice**_

(The group runs together, passing through many wild Pokémon)

 _ **The key to the door to the new world is**_  
 _ **Getting something unknown**_

(The group jumps over rocks to get past the river, while seeing many Water Types!)

(The group slides down on a grassy hill, with each of them riding on a leaf)

(Gary appears with his Eevee jumping onto his shoulder)

 _ **Golden sun & silver moon**_  
 _ **The lady sun and the lord moon**_

(The group are sitting together, getting ready for lunch together along with their Pokémon)

 _ **Are always changing faces**_  
 _ **And protecting everyone**_

(Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile gets close to Ash as he smiles)

(Delia, Mr. Mime, Prof. Oak, Yellow, Tracey, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny appear altogether)

(Mewtwo floats with Mew floating playfully)

 _ **And, then, so...**_

(A shadow of Suicune stands in a forest near the river)

 _ **OK! Let's swallow our fear!**_

(A red-headed Trainer appears with a Pokéball and a smirk)

 _ **OK! A prideful move, "Bravado"**_

(Eevee, Pikachu, and Togepi all ride on Hoothoot, Heracross, and Ledyba)

 _ **OK! Though I don't know their names or voices**_

(Ash prepares a Pokéball and faces Isamu in battle, who gets ready in return)

 _ **They are waiting for me!**_  
 _ **I want to meet them!**_

(Chikorita, Totodile, and Cyndaquil all launch their attacks separately)

(Ash and Isamu command Pikachu and Eevee to use Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball)

 _ **OK!**_

(The group runs and stops at a cliff together with many Kanto and Johto Pokémon)

 **[Opening Ends]**

* * *

The group walks over to the young girl with her Chikorita as she continues her rant about her starter winning some sort of baseball game in her own imagination, as the Grass Type starter follows along with a determined look.

"Chikorita... the Pokémon Champion pulls out another amazing ninth inning victory and the fans are going wild!" The girl called out as Chikorita continued to swing her leaf around.

"Lorcan's right. There's a Chikorita over there. So that girl must be the Trainer that took Chikorita as her starter Pokémon in New Bark Town..." Luna pointed out, with Brock and Misty smiling in agreement.

"That's cool." Brock commented as Ash took out his Johto Pokédex to scan the Grass Type.

"Let's check out what the Pokédex says..." Ash spoke as he scanned Chikorita with Lorcan watching what the younger Ketchum brother was doing.

 _"Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita releases a sweet, relaxing fragrance from the leaves on its head."_ Ash's Pokédex explained as Misty took notice of the little headband the Leaf Pokémon was wearing.

"That little headband makes Chikorita look really sporty, doesn't it?" Misty asked, causing Lorcan to look up at her with a confused look, followed by his two sibling figure Pokémon.

"Sporty?" Lorcan repeated in confusion, causing Brock to explain for the wild boy.

"She means that it's looking ready to battle or to train hard." Brock explained, allowing Lorcan to blink before he nodded a little in understanding.

"Let's see what kind of attacks it uses..." Ash suggested, causing the group to agree as they watched to see a wild Rattata coming out of the bushes to face the girl and her Chikorita!

"Now taking the field for the visitors is Rattata, and on the mound for the home team is the vegetation sensation, the Grass Type that'll mow the competition down... The one! The only! Chikorita! It's game time!" The girl shouted out.

The elder Ketchum brother sweat dropped at the comments that the girl was doing in the middle of a battle against a wild Pokémon.

"Does she think this is some sort of a ball game...?" Isamu asked, causing Luna to smile sheepishly.

"I think so... Look. Even that Chikorita seems to be into it." Luna pointed out as the group took notice of the Leaf Pokémon nodding to her Trainer before the girl called out the first attack.

"Play ball! Tackle attack, now!" The girl called out.

With the command said, the Leaf Pokémon charged to land her Tackle attack onto the Normal Type! But panicking at the sight of its opponent charging at it, the wild Rattata quickly got out of the way!

With the move missing, the Grass Type slid on the ground. But despite the fact that it missed, the girl didn't seem fazed as she continued to comment on the battle like it was some sort of a game.

"And the first one's low and in the dirt, but Chikorita's just warming up! This next one's coming straight down the plate! GO!" The girl commented, before ordering her Leaf Pokémon to make its attack.

Without having the need to be told twice, the Grass Type starter bashed into the wild Rattata! The poor Normal Type wasn't able to dodge this time as it landed on its back, defeated with a single blow!

"That was good! Now all she has to do is throw her Pokéball!" Luna commented as Lorcan watched with mild curiosity. The same went for Vulpix and Eevee as the girl grinned at the successful win against the wild Rattata.

"Perfect strike! Chikorita's smoking Tackle attack knocked Rattata right outta the box! This game is over!" The girl exclaimed as she threw her Pokéball to where the unconscious wild Pokémon was!

The ball opened, sucking Rattata inside. With the group and the girl watching, the ball shook several times before a click was heard! Both the girl and her Grass Type starter grinned as they both cheered for the win.

Raising the Pokéball high up, the girl grinned at her victory.

"Another Team Casey win!" The girl, now known as Casey cried out as Isamu raised an eyebrow.

 _"So this girl's name is Casey, huh..."_ Isamu thought before the baseball girl high-fived Chikorita with her hand on the Grass Type's leaf, before the baseball girl looked like she was going to boast... in a way.

"Will the fans please rise and salute Casey and Chikorita by singing their victory song!?" Casey called out as she began to sing with Chikorita joining her song.

"We all love Electabuzz...

No other team's the same...

The players charge the field and Electrify the game.

They pitch and catch and run so quick.

Their baseball bats are thunder sticks.

Their power hitters the trick.

Electabuzz, our favorite pick!

We love their yellow color and their black stripes are the best.

Electabuzz... They're better than the rest!"

The group watched with bewildered expressions while Lorcan and his two Pokémon watched in confusion, as they didn't seem to understand on what point the baseball girl was trying to make her with her little song.

"Electabuzz, huh... She must be talking about Team Electabuzz... one of the baseball teams that play in a game..." Isamu whispered silently, causing the younger brother to frown at hearing that.

"You mean the team that always loses...? How come she's cheering for them?" Ash asked, only to get a shrug from the others as they continued to watch and see Casey take a deep breath before she called her starter back.

"Chikorita, return!" Casey called out as the Leaf Pokémon was called back.

Once that was done, the baseball girl glanced over to see that the six Trainers were staring at her! Widening her eyes, she quickly narrowed them into an angry frown as she glared at the group.

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Luna all flinched at her nasty glare while the elder Ketchum brother narrowed his eyes with Lorcan glaring back. With the glare she was giving to him and the others, it didn't seem to be nice at all.

When suddenly...

"YAAAAHHH!"

Her sudden scream took the group by surprise as she began to charge at the group with high speed, much to Ash's shock and Luna's concern.

"Hey, no!"

"What are you doing!?" The two gasped until Lorcan took quick action!

"HAAAAH!"

 **WHAM!**

"UGH!"

Ash, Misty, Isamu, Luna, and Brock all gaped in shock to see Lorcan tackling the girl away, causing her to gasp in pain before she tumbled onto the ground, wincing in pain from the hit she took on the stomach.

"Ow..." Casey groaned as Lorcan growled at the baseball girl.

"Why you trying to attack me friends!?" Lorcan snapped as Vulpix and Eevee growled at the baseball girl as well. Of course, what she said next startled her and the others as she protested to his accusation.

"I'm not... trying to attack... you or... your friends! That Pikachu... amazed me... that's all!" Casey groaned while holding onto her stomach.

Blinking in surprise, the Vulpix boy sweat dropped at the mistake he made by making the wrong assumption. The group did as well as they ran over to check up on the baseball girl.

"Oh no... Are you alright? We're so sorry!" Luna apologized quickly.

"R-Right... When you let out a loud yell and charged towards us, we all thought you were going to do something extreme..." Isamu admitted as well, while the Vulpix boy whimpered at his mistake.

"Me sorry..." Lorcan whimpered, while Eevee and Vulpix lost their aggressive expressions, as they replaced them with apologetic expressions.

At the apologies, Casey grinned weakly before she managed to get back up while dusting herself off.

"No biggie! But still..." Casey assured before she turned to Ash's Pikachu, who was on top of his right shoulder! This startled the younger brother as the baseball girl stared at his Electric Type partner with a bright grin.

"I don't believe it! An honest to goodness Pikachu! Yay! Yay!" Casey cheered, much to both Ash and Pikachu's concern. The group was confused by this as well as Isamu was the one to ask.

"You like Pikachu...? For what...? Because of his yellow color? You did mention that while you were chanting your victory song." Isamu guessed, causing the baseball girl to give a small giggle.

"Ha ha! You got me there! It's not just that, though! I just love those powerful pin stripes and that shocking yellow coat!" Casey giggled as Lorcan watched while cocking his head in curiosity.

Nevertheless, the baseball girl continued on while hugging the Mouse Pokémon tightly!

"Your Pikachu's a grand slam!" Casey complimented, only for Ash to realize what Pikachu could do if the baseball girl went on like this. He walked over, trying to warn her of what danger she could be in.

"Hey... easy! That's a high voltage Pikachu!" Ash warned, only to get a grin from the baseball girl.

"You think it'd really shock me? What a blast! I always wondered what that's like! Come on, Pikachu! Turn on the juice! Gimme a taste!" Casey requested, causing the group to be bewildered on what she was saying.

"She wants to get shocked...!?" Luna gasped, as Isamu sighed.

"This is going to get a little ugly..." Isamu sighed as Pikachu's cheeks started to spark with electricity, showing that he was about to grant Casey's wish to get shocked! The younger brother didn't like it as he tried to stop his Electric Type partner.

"No, Pikachu! She doesn't know what she's saying!" Ash exclaimed, only for Casey to push Pikachu down with more pressure as she made a menacing glare to the Mouse Pokémon!

"Come on, ya little rat! Gimme a jolt!" Casey snapped, startling Pikachu enough to make him do what the baseball girl wishes! Immediately, the younger brother grabbed his partner to try and stop him.

"DON'T DO IT, PIKAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Ash started before he screamed, as both he and Casey got a taste of the Mouse Pokémon's Thunderbolt attack!

Both Luna and Misty winced while Brock and Lorcan watched with frowns on their faces. The elder brother face palmed for what his little brother got into, due to the baseball girl wanting a shock.

Once the Thunderbolt was done, both Casey and Ash were smoking from the shock they had taken from the Electric Type attack

"Bad idea..." Casey groaned weakly, as Ash groaned in pain.

"I tried to tell ya..." Ash groaned back, causing Casey to groan again weakly.

"Thanks a lot..." Casey groaned, with Ash twitching in response.

"Don't mention it..."

With those words, both Ash and Casey slumped down to the ground, both feeling the shock still in them as Luna and Lorcan watched in concern. Misty and Brock just sighed while Isamu frowned at the sight his brother was in now.

"I think he's grounded..." Misty sighed while Lorcan frowned.

"Why Pikachu shock Ash and girl like that?" Lorcan questioned, causing Luna to give a sheepish answer.

"Well... I think it's because Casey wanted to be shocked... That's all... I think." Luna explained sheepishly, causing the Vulpix boy to cock his head in confusion, still not understanding.

"Me don't understand..." Lorcan spoke out in confusion.

* * *

 **Later...**

After recovering from the shock she and Ash had taken from the Thunderbolt attack, the baseball girl introduced herself to the group with a big smile on her face.

"My name's Casey! I'm a HUGE baseball fan and I just became a Pokémon Trainer!" Casey explained, with Brock making a compliment of her starter Pokémon.

"We really like your Chikorita! Did you get it from Prof. Elm?" Brock asked, earning a nod from the baseball girl.

"Sure did!" was all Casey needed to say to make the group smile.

"See? I told you." Brock chuckled, causing Ash to grin while Luna just gave a small smile. The younger Ketchum brother pointed to himself and his elder brother, explaining of where they came from.

"My big bro and I come from Pallet Town! My name's Ash Ketchum!" Ash explained by introducing himself.

"My name's Isamu Ketchum. Pleasure to meet you, Casey." Isamu spoke calmly, as the others began introducing themselves, too.

"And my name is Brock!"

"Everybody calls me Misty!"

"I'm Luna. It's so nice to meet you."

That's when the introduction went towards Lorcan, who blinked before he introduced himself timidly, unsure of how to say it properly.

"Me name is... Lorcan. Nice... to meet you, Casey." Lorcan spoke timidly, which Casey took no notice of. Taking her cap off, the baseball girl greeted the six Trainers politely with a smile on her face.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Casey said, before Pikachu, Cyndaquil, and Eevee cried out happily together. The same went for Lorcan's Vulpix and Eevee. For the baseball girl, she paid more attention to Ash's Electric Type partner!

"Oh, I'm just crazy about yellow Pokémon, especially with stripes! That's why I think your Pikachu's so adorable, but the Pokémon I want more than anything in the world is Electabuzz!" Casey explained, causing Isamu to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me... is it because it's the Pokémon that has the name of the baseball team you're rooting for?" Isamu asked, earning a grin from the baseball girl.

"That's right! And maybe someday... I might even have a whole team of beautiful yellow Pokémon and all of them with stripes!" Casey sighed happily, causing Ash to question her of why she liked those types.

"How come you like yellow and striped Pokémon so much, Casey?" Ash asked, causing Luna to answer for the younger brother.

"Because it's like Isamu said... It's for Team Electabuzz, right? You seemed to be chanting about it when you were singing that victory song with Chikorita by your side." Luna answered.

That caused the baseball girl to smile sheepishly, as she remembered on how she didn't notice the group standing near her when she had caught the wild Rattata.

"You're right...! My family's been rooting for the Electabuzz for three generations!" Casey explained, causing the younger brother to raise an eyebrow a little.

He had heard his elder brother and Luna say this before, but... now this made him a bit curious.

"You mean the Electabuzz baseball team?" Ash questioned, earning a nod from the baseball girl.

"That's right." Casey said, as the younger brother imagined on what the Electabuzz team was like. Brock smiled in understanding, realizing on why the baseball girl was so energized before.

"An Electabuzz fan, huh? No wonder you're so full of energy!" Brock commented as Lorcan frowned. He tapped on Luna's shoulder to get her attention, before he whispered his question to her ear.

"What's a baseball team...?" Lorcan asked, causing Luna to blink before she smiled sheepishly.

"Well, it's a game where one team faces the other team. And well... Ugh... Sorry, Lorcan... It's kind of complicated for me to explain, especially when there are so many rules and plays in a baseball game." Luna explained sheepishly.

That caught the baseball girl's attention as she turned to the Vulpix boy.

"Oh... You don't know what a baseball team is? Well, that's new." Casey commented before she carefully explained to Lorcan in the simplest way she can about what a baseball team is, and how it's played.

With the explanation Casey was giving out, the Vulpix boy was starting to understand a little, though in his mind, he was still a little bit confused. But now wanting to hurt a new friend's feelings, Lorcan gave a small smile.

"Okay... Me understand now." Lorcan said, causing Casey to nod back to him. That was when Ash started to point out the fact on what happens to the team that Casey's family favors in.

"But hang on... Don't the Electabuzz team always finish in last place?" Ash asked, causing Casey to whip around and make a determined glare.

"This season's gonna be different! This season, they're gonna win the series!" Casey declared, only for Ash to laugh at that declaration.

"Ha! No way! The Electabuzz will get creamed by teams like the Magikarp and the Starmie!" Ash chuckled, only to get a glare from the baseball girl as she snapped at the younger brother for his blunt insults.

"You quit saying bad things about the Electabuzz! They're gonna beat everybody!" Casey snapped, only for Ash to sweat drop.

"The Electabuzz couldn't beat an egg..." Ash spoke back, as Isamu tried to calm the situation down.

"Ash, just stop... This is getting nowhere and it's a little rude to be looking down on the team just because they had an unlucky streak..." Isamu reminded, only for Ash to pout with a frown.

"But big bro... It's the truth!" Ash pouted, until Casey leered at the younger brother.

"It is not! What about the all the great hitters that are on the Electabuzz...?" Casey asked, causing the younger brother to respond back even more bluntly!

"Those guys aren't hitters... I've seen better swings on a playground!" Ash commented, much to Casey's shock and anger as she glared at the younger Ketchum brother, having more determination firing up inside her.

"That's the last straw...!" Casey growled, much to Ash's surprise.

It was her challenge that made the younger brother even more surprised.

"We're gonna settle this argument with a Pokémon battle! Nobody gets away with insulting my favorite team!" Casey declared angrily, much to Ash's shock as the others watched with widened eyes.

 _"Is she serious about this...?"_ Luna thought in concern as Ash tried to reject the challenge.

"But you don't stand a chance against me... I'm an experienced Trainer!" Ash tried to object, only for Casey to press onto the younger brother even further.

"I don't care how experienced you are! Nobody makes fun of the team my family roots for, especially a little wimp who knows zero about baseball and even less about Pokémon!" Casey snapped angrily.

That caused Isamu to twitch his eyes a little, as he realized that the baseball girl had insulted his little brother. Ash looked insulted as well as he began to shake angrily to retort back to her. But before anyone could erupt...

"Would you mind if me battle with you first?" Lorcan asked. That immediate question caught everyone off guard, causing Ash and Casey to almost immediately forget about their argument.

"Huh? Why do you want to battle me, Lorcan?" Casey asked curiously, causing the Vulpix boy to smile sheepishly.

"This will be me first battle in a long time ever since I left me home... since you're a beginning Trainer like me, me thought that you would want to battle me first." Lorcan explained.

The way the Vulpix boy talked caused the baseball girl to sweat drop a little before she smiled sheepishly. Realizing the truth in the boy's words, the baseball girl smirked, accepting Lorcan's challenge.

"All right... I can see your point. Fine then! I'll accept your challenge first!" Casey declared, much to Ash's bewilderment.

"Hey, wait a minute! What about our battle?" Ash asked, only to get silenced by the baseball girl.

"Silence, little wimp! I'm going to battle against your friend first, so butt out!" Casey snapped, causing the Ketchum brothers to twitch their eyes in annoyance. The others smiled sheepishly at the awkward situation this has gotten to.

"Well, it looks like we finally found somebody as stubborn and hotheaded as Ash..." Misty sighed, while Brock folded his arms. Togepi just gave a cute cry, unaware of what was going on at the moment.

"Let's have a two on two Pokémon battle, Lorcan!" Casey challenged, with Lorcan grinning.

"Of course, Casey!" Lorcan agreed as the group and Casey headed over to where there was a big field, which would allow them to have their battle. The two Trainers faced each other as Casey took out a Pokéball.

"Get ready, get set! Casey's ready to deliver the pitch... I choose you!" Casey called out as she threw her first Pokéball, sending out... a Rattata!

"That's the same one she just caught earlier, right?" Luna asked, as Isamu watched.

"Yeah... I just wonder who Lorcan is going to send out..." Isamu said as he turned to where the Vulpix boy was.

Lorcan remained silent, but looked down to see Vulpix making excited and determined cries to go out and fight!

"Vul! Vulpix Vul!" Vulpix cried out, earning a toothy grin from the Vulpix boy.

"Mm! Go get her, brother..." Lorcan spoke out, earning a nod from the Fox Pokémon before he ran over to face off against Rattata.

 **Casey: Rattata + 1 VS Lorcan: Vulpix + Eevee**

"So Lorcan is sending out Vulpix..." Misty pointed out as Casey took a look at the little Fire Type before she got ready to begin the battle.

"A Fire Type... This might be hot, but we can handle it! Alright, Rattata! Use Tackle! Take the first base with a big hit!" Casey shouted out, allowing the Normal Type to charge where the Fox Pokémon was!

"Quick Attack!"

The simple order allowed Vulpix to charge for Rattata with a Quick Attack! As the two Pokémon ran in head-to-head with one another, the Fox Pokémon overpowered the Normal Type, knocking it away!

Rattata yelped in pain while rolling back before the Vulpix boy called for another attack!

"Now, Flamethrower!"

That was all Vulpix needed to hear before he blasted Rattata high in the air with the Fire Type attack!

"Ah! Rattata!" Casey gasped before she watched to see her first Pokémon tumble on the ground before falling in defeat.

 **Casey: 1 Pokémon**

Quickly calling Rattata back, the baseball girl got ready to throw another Pokémon out to the game.

"Alright... You got lucky with that round, Lorcan! But see how you like this!? Here comes the last hope for the team... Chikorita!" Casey called out, allowing the Leaf Pokémon to appear on the field!

"Chikorita... Does Casey even know that Grass Types like Chikorita has a disadvantage against a Fire Type like Vulpix?" Isamu asked, causing the group to sweat drop before Misty frowned.

"I don't think she does..." Misty commented as Casey began the battle again.

"All right, Chikorita! Let it rip! Use Vine Whip!" Casey exclaimed, as the Leaf Pokémon binds the Fox Pokémon with her vines! The Fire Type yelped in surprise before he was lifted up high in the air before slammed back to the ground!

"Oh no!" Lorcan gasped as he watched his Fire Type brother get hurt by being slammed down to the ground several times by the Vine Whip attack. Eevee watched in concern to see Vulpix getting hurt.

"Flamethrower, Vulpix! Flamethrower!" Lorcan shouted out.

The shout was enough to bring Vulpix back into reality as he managed to shoot a Flamethrower! The flames knocked Chikorita away, causing the Leaf Pokémon to groan in defeat.

"Oh no... No way...!" Casey gasped as she ran over to hold her defeated Grass Type.

 **Winner: Lorcan**

"So the winner of this match is Lorcan, huh...? That was pretty good for his first battle." Isamu commented, with Luna making a guess of how much strength he could have in him with his Pokémon.

"Remember... he was raised in the forest with his Ninetales family... So that must've been the time when he and his two Pokémon were training together... Hard enough to be able to become strong in this battle, even when this was his first." Luna reminded.

"That's a good point, actually..." Brock agreed as Lorcan walked over to where Casey stood.

"That was a fun battle, Casey! You were good!" Lorcan complimented, much to the baseball girl's surprise.

"I was...? But I lost..." Casey frowned before she called her defeated Leaf Pokémon back.

"Lorcan's right... It's not easy winning a battle for the first time, especially when it's a Trainer battle." Isamu agreed as he walked over with the others. Casey blinked, before she frowned a little.

Shaking her head in realization, she then turned to the younger brother, demanding a battle with him!

"That's right... I still have a grudge I need to settle with you for making fun of the Electabuzz team! I may have lost against Lorcan in my first battle, but second time's the charm! Get ready to lose, Ash!" Casey declared.

"Wait, right away...!? But your Pokémon needs to recover from their battle against Lorcan's Vulpix..." Ash tried to protest, until Casey shoved a Pokéball right at his face with a glare.

"If I'm ready, then my Pokémon are ready! Get ready to battle, Ash! Right here and right now!" Casey demanded angrily as Isamu folded his arms with a frown.

"She's going to regret this for sure... especially with how strong Ash is..." Isamu breathed out with Luna frowning in understanding. Nevertheless, the next battle was about to begin as Ash faced Casey this time.

"Let's have a three on three Pokémon battle this time!" Casey declared with Ash making a confident smirk.

"I won't have to use all of my three!" Ash declared as the others watched on the sidelines with Lorcan joining them.

"She's new at this like Lorcan is, Ash! Don't be too tough on her!" Brock advised, with Misty adding in a reminder of what they were supposed to do after this.

"But hurry up, we gotta get to Violet City!" Misty added, causing Luna to frown at the two.

"So what you guys are saying is that Ash should go easy on her but try to wrap the battle up quick...? Just what exactly are you trying to tell him to do...?" Luna asked, confused with their choice of words.

The two sweat dropped at her question as Ash was assured that he will win the match easy as pie.

"Don't worry, Misty! It won't take me very long to win this one! Choose your first Pokémon, Casey!" Ash assured before he demanded that his opponent should bring her Pokémon out first.

"My first one's the last one I'm gonna need! Casey's ready to deliver the pitch... I choose... YOU!" Casey shouted out as her third Pokémon was revealed to be none other than Pidgey!

"It's a Pidgey... Well that's a coincidence..." Isamu commented in surprise, before he smiled a little at the sight of it.

"It's because Pidgey was the very first Pokémon you caught, right? He's a Pidgeot right now." Luna guessed, earning a nod from the elder Ketchum brother as Eevee smiled at the memory, too.

Ash seemed to have remembered his day in the past when he tried to capture a Pidgey.

"A Pidgey... Boy, that takes me back. I remember when I first started catching and training-" Ash started to reminisce, until Casey rudely interrupted him to start bringing out his Pokémon!

"COME ON! QUIT BABBLING AND START BATTLING, WILL YA!?" Casey yelled, causing Ash to stop before he took out his Pokéball.

"Okay... But just remember that you were the one that asked for it! I choose you, Charizard!" Ash shouted out, as he sent his Fire-Flying Type out to face the rookie! The choice shocked the others while Casey frowned and Lorcan grew awed.

"Whoa..." Lorcan breathed out as his eyes sparkled like stars. The same went for Vulpix and Eevee, as they were awed with how big and powerful Charizard looked right in front of them.

Even Cyndaquil looked like he was awed from how powerful Charizard looked, especially with how big and strong the Fire-Flying Type seemed to be in the Fire Mouse Pokémon's sight.

"Ash is gonna battle her with Charizard!?" Brock exclaimed in disbelief.

"I think this game is a shutout!" Misty commented in disbelief as well. Luna just sweat dropped while the elder Ketchum brother gave a sheepish smile for the quick battle it might be.

"I figured... You guys did ask for him to hurry it up..." Isamu chuckled sheepishly.

 **Casey: Pidgey + 2 VS Ash: Charizard + 2**

"That sagging dragon of yours doesn't scare us, Ash Ketchum! Pidgey, Quick Attack now!" Casey shouted out.

With the order, the Tiny Bird Pokémon charged headfirst into Charizard! But one Quick Attack didn't seem to do a thing as Charizard just scoffed before blowing Pidgey away with a snort of his nose!

The blow somehow seemed to have knocked Pidgey out as it chirped in defeat, unconscious from the blow.

 **Casey: 2 Pokémon**

Casey gasped at this before she quickly called Pidgey back to bring out another Pokémon to take the field.

"Pidgey, return!" Casey called out as she took out her second Pokéball.

"I'll use my pinch hitter... I choose... Rattata!" Casey called out, as her Normal Type came out, all ready for battle!

"Look at that... It recovered so fast..." Isamu pointed out, causing Luna to blink as well, realizing that the elder Ketchum brother was right. Eevee and Pikachu were a bit surprised as well as Casey made the first move.

"All right, Rattata! Keep your eye out on the Charizard and tag it out with a Tackle attack!" Casey shouted out.

Just like with Pidgey, Rattata charged to hit Charizard, but with how little and inexperienced the Normal Type was in battling, Charizard easily deflected the attack by bouncing him off with his stomach!

That impact alone was enough to make Rattata faint already, much to Casey's shock and to the others' chagrin, except for Lorcan.

 **Casey: 1 Pokémon**

"Rattata struck out...!" Casey gasped as Ash smirked, reminding of the state that the battle was in now.

"That's two down, one to go!" Ash reminded, as Casey glared before she called her defeated Normal Type back.

"Oh yeah!? Rattata, return!" Casey called out as Ash put a hand on his side, advising the beginning Trainer to forfeit for her own sake.

"Casey, maybe you better quit." Ash advised, only to get a retort from the baseball girl.

"My grandpa say, 'It ain't over till it's over' and this match is a long way from over!" Casey retorted before she brought out her last Pokéball to send out her starter!

"And now... stepping up to the plate... here's Chikorita!" Casey called out as she sent her Leaf Pokémon out to face Charizard! Isamu raised an eyebrow, understanding of how easily the battle will go.

"A Grass Type against a Fire and Flying Type... That's never good for a Grass Type..." Isamu sighed as Casey was ready to fight, no matter what the battle was like.

"C'mon, Chikorita! It's the bottom of the ninth! It's Vine Whip time!" Casey called out.

The Leaf Pokémon shot vines to wrap it around Charizard's neck! At the attack looking like it worked, the baseball girl smirked confidently.

"Don't choke!" Casey taunted until Ash smiled, knowing how this was going to go with just one attack.

"Charizard, use your Flamethrower. But try to go easy on it." Ash called out. The evolved Fire-Flying Type did so, spitting out a fireball that narrowly hit only Chikorita's leaf head! At feeling the heat, the Leaf Pokémon quickly panicked!

It ran around in circles, trying to get the flame off of its leaf head. But when it kept running, it quickly lost its stamina, resulting it in its defeat.

"Chikorita!" Casey gasped as Brock called the match.

"Chikorita is unable to battle! Ash wins the match!" Brock declared, as Casey fell to her knees. Lorcan frowned, feeling a bit sorry for the baseball girl. Luna felt a little bad herself while Isamu remained silent.

Sighing, the elder Ketchum brother sighed while scratching the back of his head.

"I knew this was going to come..." Isamu sighed as Casey returned her defeated Grass Type back.

"I can't believe it was a total shutout... Chikorita, return." Casey said sadly as the others came over to try and cheer the baseball girl up.

"Cheer up! You gave it your best shot, Casey." Brock assured as Misty added in her words for the baseball girl to hear.

"You played a great match, especially for a rookie." Misty agreed, as Luna tried to cheer her up as well.

"No one can be perfect in a battle... no matter how much they want to be. Remember, losing can be beneficial, as it allows you to understand the mistakes you've made during the battle..." Luna advised calmly.

"She's right. There's always next time that you can win a battle..." Isamu agreed as Casey frowned, unsure of what to say or think. Lorcan frowned, not sure on how he could cheer his new friend up.

For the younger Ketchum brother, he walked up and offered a hand for Casey to take.

"They're right... And now that it's over, let's shake hands and be friends!" Ash offered.

But the crushing defeat she received from Ash was too much for the baseball girl as she rejected him by running off, sobbing in an upset and angry tone.

"Just leave me alone!" Casey snapped as she ran off, much to the others' surprise.

"Casey!" Lorcan called out, until Luna placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. At seeing the confused expression on the Vulpix boy's head, the Kanto girl explained of what Casey needed right now.

"Just leave her be... She probably needs to mull on this alone..." Luna advised, causing Lorcan to be worried as he looked back to where Casey was running to.

"Still... It must be hard for a tough kid like that to lose..." Brock commented, with Misty understanding on what he meant.

"It's hard for anybody!" Misty added while Ash just smiled while folding his arms.

"But that is what happens when you challenge a great Trainer!" Ash spoke out, causing Misty to give him a teasing expression while nudging him at the same time.

"Yeah, you should know about that, right?" Misty asked, causing the younger brother to put his hand on the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at the same time. Isamu raised an eyebrow in amusement while Luna just gave a little giggle.

For Lorcan, he frowned, still having concern for the defeated baseball girl. But he knew, that like Luna said, that anyone would need space after they had a big loss like that.

To be continued...

* * *

 **Isamu's Team:**

 **Eevee (F): (Hidden Power, Double Team, Shadow Ball, Return)**

 **Cyndaquil (M): (Tackle, Ember, Smokescreen, Quick Attack)**

 **Ninetales (F): (Fire Spin, Dig, Safeguard, Flamethrower)**

 **Gloom (F): (Moonlight, Acid, Petal Dance, Sleep Powder)**

 **Dragonair (M): (Dragon Rage, Safeguard, Thunder Wave, Outrage)**

 **Lapras (F): (Ice Beam, Mist, Rain Dance, Whirlpool)**

With Prof. Oak:

 **Seadra (M): (Agility, Surf, Twister, Smokescreen)**

 **Nidoking (M): (Mega Punch, Double Kick, Horn Attack, Poison Sting)**

 **Aerodactyl (M): (Fly, Hyper Beam, Ancient Power, Scary Face)**

 **Pidgeot (M): (Whirlwind, Mirror Move, Wing Attack, Sky Attack)**

 **Sandslash (M): (Crush Claw, Dig, Slash, Double Team**

Next chapters:

 **Chapter 4: A Grudge Match! You're Out!**

 **Chapter 5: A Sappy Start! Heracross Appears!**

 **Chapter 6: The Truth to the Sap Issue!**

 **Chapter 7: A Hard Roll! Donphan Rolls Through!**

 **Chapter 8: The Lost Ones Find the Amberite!**

 **Next chapter preview:**

Lorcan: Why she upset? You beat her fair and square, didn't you, Ash? She lost that battle, didn't she?

Luna: That's because Ash had Charizard to take down all three of her inexperienced Pokémon in battle, Lorcan...

Ash: I gotta admit, I guess it was pretty unfair for me to use Charizard against a beginning Trainer... I just wonder when...

Casey: Ash Ketchum! I demand here that you battle me again! That way, I can prove you're just a cheater in battle!

Ash: A cheater!? Hold on... I may have overdid it by sending out Charizard, but that wasn't cheating in a battle!

Isamu: Don't bother with her... She won't listen unless you beat her again... That is, if she can just calm herself down first...

 **Events that occurred:**

\- The group meets Casey and Chikorita

\- Lorcan defeats Casey in his first Pokémon battle


End file.
